Berry good, but with help, a little better

The same kind of cranberry vines have thrived in the sandy swamps of Massachusetts since Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving almost 400 years ago. But the tiny, tart berries that served local farmers well for centuries don't measure up in the modern market.

Now a new state agricultural innovation center is giving the state's 400 growers a total of $1.5 million to replace the native fruit with new hybrid vines that produce plumper berries that are twice as plentiful.

"We are just being outgrown," said Jeff LaFleur, executive director of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association.

Relying largely on the new vines, Wisconsin emerged as the country's leading cran berry producer in the mid-1990s and grew more than twice as many berries last year as Massachusetts, which ranked second, with its native berries.

Growers will pay half the cost of the overhaul, which includes bulldozing land to flatten bogs, many of which slope with age and consequently waste millions of gallons of water.

New sprinklers will replace rusting irrigation systems, and cuttings from the new hybrid vines will be planted in a fresh layer of sand. LaFleur said the revamped bogs will double cranberry production and cut water use in half.

Despite the changes, cranberry sauce and cranberry juice will taste the same, he said. "Most people don't even realize there are different varieties."

ANDREW RYAN