CRANBERRY CULTURE. 281 



ations. Neither are the north and west sides of such elevations 

 so much affected by thawy periods during winter. In short, 

 trees thus exposed do not freeze so hard, do not thaw out so 

 often, do not experience so many degrees of warmth, and, of 

 course, are permitted to remain more nearly stationary, which 

 approaches what is needed. Better still, could locations be 

 found, and made available, where the variations should prove 

 vastly less in degree and more unfrcqucnt. 



Asa Clement. 



S. Johnson. 



Geo. A. King. 



After the reading of the Essay it was laid on the table, to be 

 taken up for a second reading, when it was adopted. 

 An Essay was presented on the 



CULTURE OF THE CRANBERRY. 



BY GEORGE A. KING. 



Within a few years the culture of the cranberry has become 

 one of our important industrial interests. In the county of 

 Barnstable alone the value of the cranberry crop for the last 

 year was not less than one hundred thousand dollars. A con- 

 siderable degree of care and attention has been bestowed upon 

 the cultivation of this fruit, and the ordinary conditions of its 

 growth are very well understood. There are, however, a 

 number of perils which the cultivator of the cranberry is 

 obliged to encounter. These are the frost, the worm and the 

 rot. 



1. The destruction caused by the late frosts of the spring 

 and the early frosts of the autumn has been so frequent and 

 extensive, that the feeling has become general among cranberry 

 growers that no bog is of much value unless it is so situated 

 that it can be protected from injury from this source. The only 

 means by which the disastrous effects of late and early frosts 

 can be averted is an overflow of the bog. Fires have utterly 

 failed to furnish protection against the frosts ; and in order to 

 successfully counteract them, an abundant supply of water is 

 indispensable. 



2. Another difficulty in the way of successful cranberry cul- 

 ture arises from the ravages of the worm, of which there are 



36 



