SECRETARY'S REPORT. 51 



of sand ; and experiments, extending over a term of seven or 

 eight years, with plants every year becoming more and more 

 productive, show conclusively, that cranberries will flourish in 

 pure white sand, if they are supplied with sufficient moisture. 



If the position be a peat meadow, substantially the same 

 course should be pursued. If very moist, it would, perhaps, 

 be well to arrange suitable drains ; and if these drains could 

 be so constructed as to make it possible to flow the plantation 

 in a very short time, it would, at times, be highly beneficial in 

 preventing frost. The surface should be pared, the turfs being 

 sometimes taken off and piled up for the compost, and some- 

 times turned directly over and left on the ground. As to the 

 next step, in such cases, there is great difference of opinion, 

 some preferring to cover the whole with sand — or gravel, if 

 sand cannot be had — and others, to put the vines directly upon 

 the peat bottom. The black soil, it is thought, is very useful 

 in securing sufficient warmth in spring and autumn, as a pro- 

 tection against frost. This point has not been fully settled by 

 experiment, so that it is impossible to say positively, that the one 

 course or the other is the better. So far, however, all things 

 being taken into consideration, the weight of opinion seems to 

 be in favor of the former course, — covering to the depth of 

 three or four inches with sand, or, where sand cannot be ob- 

 tained, with gravel. This method very much diminishes the 

 labor of hoeing, if it be found necessary, where the roots 

 of grasses or bushes are left in the peat. Most cultivators 

 prefer to hoe a little, sometimes twice or three times the first 

 and second years after transplanting, or till the vines have 

 trailed so as to make it inexpedient. The objection to trans- 

 planting in pure peat bog without sand, does not arise from 

 the nature of the soil itself, which is, perhaps, as favorable, or 

 nearly so, to the cranberry, as sand ; but rather from the cause 

 alluded to — the difficulty of hoeing, if the plants require it, 

 when set in peat. The cranberry seems to have a wonderful 

 power of adapting itself to any kind of soil; it draws its 

 nourishment mostly from the atmosphere, though a liberal sup- 

 ply of moisture is desirable. 



A somewhat simpler mode of procedure is sometimes adopt- 

 ed in the case of ordinary low meadows or swamps in the 



