CRANBERRY CULTURE. 135 



By the use of a dam at the lower part of the meadow, it is flowed 

 in the spring to prevent the " fly " from depositing its eggs, the 

 worms from which injure or destroy the fruit. Tliis purpose is 

 fully accomplished by a complete submersion of the plants for ten 

 days just previous to the 1st of June. Plowing from November 

 to March is sometimes resorted to for the purpose of preventing 

 winter-killing, of which in severe seasons there is some danger. 

 The damage by frost to the crop of 1875 was so serious that the 

 Messrs. Shattuck determined, if possible, to devise some adequate 

 means of protection against this drawback. They accordingly 

 invented and constructed a covering, consisting of strips of wood 

 four feet long, five or six inches wide and three-eighths of an inch 

 thick, nailed crosswise to thicker strips, three in number, twelve 

 feet long, the whole forming, when completed, a covering piece 

 about the size and shape of a large single barn door. A sufficient 

 number of pieces in this portable shape were taken to the meadow 

 just before the season of frost, and placed so as to extend 

 lengthwise in a direction north and south, and covering the 

 vines entirely. In the morning the south end was raised four 

 feet above the meadow, supported by two props. This ad- 

 mits the rays of the sun, favoring the growth and ripening 

 of the fruit. Whenever frost is apprehended, the boards are 

 let down at night-fall, by two persons, the process occupying 40 

 minutes or a little more. The cost of this covering is about $200 

 per acre. Near this meadow is a lake, embracing an area of 27 

 acres, which was partially drained many years ago to furnish 

 water to a mill, farther down the valley. Upon the drained bor- 

 der of this pond, a few cranberries were afterwards found, and 

 their cultivation forthwith commenced. The drain, four feet deep 

 and forty rods long, was dug by Mr. S. himself, the labor requir- 

 ing all the spare time of two summers for its completion. The 

 portion of the lake's bed left bare by draining, comprises some 

 six or seven acres of sandy, rocky soil, perfectly adapted, as has 

 been proved, to the growth of the cranberry. In this their 

 natural and congenial home, the plants were set, and here they 

 have thrived, and borne fruit abundantly year after year. Plow- 

 ing is easily accomplished by closing the gateway of the drain. 

 The proximity of the water affords complete immunity from frost, 

 the warm air above the surface of the lake being difl'iised over the 

 border occupied by the vines ; a phenomenon which the com- 

 monly received notions, of the laws of the accumulation and radia- 



