286 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



by evaporation, injurious to the health of all nearly exposed to 

 it. Instances of such evil are not unknown to medical men, and 

 the fact is worthy of consideration, in connection ^yith the in- 

 creased cultivation of cranberry meadows. 



For these and other reasons, we are disposed to recommend 

 more attention to the upland culture of the cranberry. "We 

 believe it to be attended with less risk, and productive of a fruit 

 equal, if not always superior, to that grown in meadows, whether 

 naturally or by cultivation. An instance of most successful 

 cultivation of this sort, in Essex county, has been brought to 

 our notice by a friend, whose account of it we here introduce. 



" Mr. Needham's cranberry patch is situated on the lower 

 side of his garden, in front of his house. The land is high, 

 though the position of the bed is in a valley of somewhat moist 

 land, but good for the products of a garden, or for Indian corn. 

 It cannot be called meadow, in any sense of that term. It has 

 been used for field and garden culture, for many years, by the 

 present proprietor and his ancestors. The probability is, that, 

 being in a hollow, it has been fertilized by the wash from the 

 adjacent hills, as well as by applications made to it of manure. 



" Mr. N, obtained the plants from the neighboring meadows, 

 and has watched them with unremitted attention, — never suf- 

 fering the growth of chickweed, grass, or any weed whatever, 

 among the vines, and always doing his work so early that the 

 removal of weeds does not disturb the delicate fibres of the 

 growing cranberries. In fact, his son told me this was the 

 grand secret of his father's success in growing the cranberry ; 

 and that the end could not be accomplished without patience 

 and persevering industry, such as his father had applied. His 

 products have always given him a fair compensation for all his 

 labor. He has realized from the sale of his berries, the present 

 season, nearly four hundred dollars, and could have readily 

 sold as many more at his price, — four dollars per bushel. Who- 

 ever has used them would prefer these to cranberries grown on 

 wet meadows, at half price. He gathers his fruit by hand, care- 

 fully avoiding any disturbance of the roots of the plants. He 

 applies no fertilizer whatever, except mud from the meadow, 

 after it has been pulverized by frost, and this for the double pur- 

 pose of checking the growth of grass and weeds, and of retain- 

 ing a moisture for the benefit of the plants. The cranberry is 



