Janice 13eil., age 12,, of Wichita, Kan.., for her question:

What is the family of the cranberry plant?

Cranberry is short for crane‑.berry. The plant was named for its pointed pink flowers which reminded some one of the graceful head and neck of a crane. The slender petals fold back to form the streamlined head and the long stamens point forward to form the crane‑type bill. The cranberry, naturally is not a member of the crane family. It is g pl ant member of the heath/family Ericaceae.

This means that the little plant with the merry red berries has some very distinguished relatives. Some are famous for flowers, some for perfumes and some for berries.. The laurel bears springtime blossoms with waxy petals. The rhododendron is decked with pom‑poms in sherbet colors. The trailing arbutus adds an Eastertime fragrance to the woods. The blueberry and the huckleberry axe also cranberry cousins.

Members of the Ericaceae are fond of boggy land and said soils. They are found in most countries, though they avoid the dry deserts and the damp tropics. Most of them are small shrubs like the heath which tinges the moors of England with its purple blossoms. The rhododendron arid the papery petaled azalea are often large enough to be called small trees. The cranberry, like the sweet smelling arbutus, is a ground hugging vine. Like most of its cousins, it has evergreen leaves.

The early settlers found cranberries growing wild from Newfoundland to the Carolinas. They learned from the Indians that the bright little berries added a special flavor to turkey meat. Cranberry sauce and cranberry jelly have been part of Christmas and Thanksgiving since our country began. Until about 150 years ago, the only cranberries were gathered from wild plants growing in boggy regions,

The farmers of Cape Cod were the first to tame the cranberry and grow it as a crop plant.

The little bushes, about a foot high with long low branches, thrived in the flat, boggy regions. Other parts of New England began to grow cranberries. Nowadays, Massachusetts grows about 27 thousand tons of the merry little red berries every year. Wisconsin and New Jersey are also cranberry growing states. The cranberries for the west coast are grown in the boggy coastal region of Washington.

The proper soil is boggy and slightly acid. ‑It is first cleared of its tangle of wild plants and usually covered with a few inches of sand. The plants are started as cuttings a few inches long. A reservoir is often built nearby so that the plants can be flooded from time to time to protect them from frost and insects. The crop is ready for its first harvest after five years. The tiny, narrow leaves stay green all year and the pretty little blossoms appear in June. The first of the berries are ready for picking .in September. The crop is at its peak in time to greet the Thanksgiving turkey,