its status. The afternoon will focus on regional environmental issues, and on 
     
     comnunication between the Canadian Nature Federation and its affiliates. This is 
     
    

    
     the first time the CNF regional fall meeting has been held on Prince Edward Island, ‘ 
     
     so we are hoping for a strong attendance from Natural History Society members as 
     
    

    
     well as all others concerned about nature and the natural environment. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     oN CRANBERRIES 
     
    
   
   
    
     A favourite fall outing of many Islanders is the annual 
     
     expedition to pick cranberries. with pots, buckets, bags, and 
     
     sometimes even pillowcases, they select one of those lovely 
     
     Indian summery afternoons of October and head off to their 
     
     traditional patches. Such spots are usually tucked away among 
     
     the dune slacks of a remote beach, as far as possible from the 
     
     maddening crowd; otherwise all the year's crop would have been 
     
     long since harvested by others. 
     
    

    
     There is nothing quite like an afternoon in the cranberry 
     
     patch. Squatted down low to the ground, sheltered from the 
     
     chilly wind, the cranberry picker feels the mellow warmth of the golden fall sunshine 
     
     and listens to the chirping of the crickets and the rhythm of waves in the distance. 
     
     The only other sounds are the hollow plunks of cranberries thudding into the pot 
     
     in rapid succession and the occasional "scrunch scrunch' of footsteps moving on ‘ 
     
     to pick in a new spot. 
     
    

    
     Meanwhile, the cranberry picker luxuriates in the tranquility of the after- 
     
     noon, free to dream idly of the days of summer past and winter to come. And all 
     
     the while the berries accumulate one by one, two by two, handful by handful. 
     
    

    
     Back home again, cranberries can be turned into many delectable creations: 
     
     pies, tarts, loaves, sweet breads, muffins, jams, sauces, jellies, or juice. And 
     
     they go even further when mixed with other fruits such as apples and raisins. 
     
    

    
     For those who don't make it out to pick cranberries in 
     
     the fall, there is still another chance is the spring. In 
     
     fact, winter in the wild gives spring berries an even deeper 
     
     red and an extra tang of flav0ur never quite matched by fall- 
     
     picked berries. 
     
    

    
     With the gradual warming of the damp bogs in spring, the 
     
     little trailing plants soon surge ahead in a new season's 
     
     growth. By July, tiny pink flowers poke out from among the 
     
     evergreen leaves. Each flower forms a miniature "Turk's cap‘ 
     
     of four petals, with a "beak" of stamens extending below. 
     
    

    
     By fall a new crop of shining red cranberries once again 
     
     lies nestled away here and there behind the dunes, awaiting 
     
     the efforts of an enterprising harvester. 
     
    

    
     By the way, cranberries were originally called 'crane 
     
     berries‘ by the early settlers to this continent. The flowers 
     
     nodding in the wind reminded them of the head of a crane. In 
     
     addition, 'cranes' frequented the wetlands where cranberries grew, and were often 
     
     seen there feasting on the ripened berries. 
     
    
   
   
    
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