Cranberry Culture. 319 



Wliilp tlip nhovp stiitpmpnt pxD'fiins tlip usnal nipfhofl of iiroDatjatinff tliP 

 cranberry, new meadows have been established by running the cuttings through 

 an ordinary hay or stray cutter, tlius reducing them to fragments about one inch 

 long. By sowing these fragments in rows or broadcasting them upon the sur- 

 face a stand of plants may be secured. 



Cuttings of the cranberry intended for shipment should be loosely packed in 

 well ventilated barrels, baskets, or crates. More injury results from the heat- 

 ing of the plants in closely packed unventilated receptacles than from drying 

 in well ventilated ones. 



TIME TO PLANT. 



Planting should l)e done as early in the spring as cuttings can be secured. 

 Usually this will be about the first of June, as the bearing meadows from which 

 the cuttings must be secured are usually kept flooded umil after the middle of 

 May in order to insure the crop against injury from frosts. 



CULTIVATION. 



With the cranberry the greater portion of its cultivation is doine in prepar- 

 ing the soil before planting the cuttings. After planting the cuttings the only 

 cultivation necessary is to keep down grass and weedy growths of all kinds. 

 As the coating of sand should not be mixed more than is necessary with the sub- 

 stratum of peat or muck, the care of the area consists chiefly in hand pulling the 

 weeds. The use of hand tools is prohibited for the reason just stated, and the 

 use of horse power because of tlie softness of the soil. 



FLOODING. 



The necessity for storage reservoirs and irrigation dtches as well as dikes 

 and drainage channels has been mentioned under the heading of "grading." 



Flooding is an important factor in the success of cranberry culture through- 

 out the greater portion of the area over which this plant is grown. A succes- 

 sion of remunerative crops from the same meadow is seldom secured without 

 flooding. The presence of water retards the blooming of the plants until the 

 danger from killing frost has passed. This is undoubtedly the chief benefit to be 

 derived from the water. A lesser benefit is in preventing the plants from being 

 heaved out by repeated freezing and thawing. 



It is maintained, also, that flooding protects the plants from the depreda- 

 tions of certain injurious insects, and that certain blights and fungous diseases 

 are prevented. Some growers go so far as to flood the meadows for short 

 intervals after the fruits have been formed in order to destroy certain insects, 

 but this practice is looked upon with distrust by the best growers. While the 

 presence of the water may destroy some of the injurious insects present, the 

 flooding of the vines during their active growing period may, on the other hand, 

 result in more injury to the plantation than in the good resulting from the de- 

 struction of the insects. In sections where the blooming period of the plants 

 is much later than the usual date for the last killing frosts flooding is of 

 doubtful value. Certain it is that plantations can be established and brought 

 to bearing without the use of the water.* 



During the period when the bog is flooded and coated with ice great care 

 must be exercised during a thaw or heavy rain to prevent an accumulation of 

 water on the bog which will raise the general water level. Any accumulation of 

 water which raises the ice will prove disastrous to the bog, for lifting the ice 

 takes the plants with it, with great injury to the plantation. 



►See West Virginia Bulletin No. 86. 



