ALL ABOUT CRANBERRIES. 31 



vines as thickly as could be afforded, striking the hoe through 

 sand and hay into the soil. The hay acts as a fertilizer to 

 the vine, and very effectually prevents the growth of grass. 



It is evident, I think, that more cranberries are destroyed 

 by the frosts of June and September than all other causes 

 combined, in this locality : hence the importance of a flood- 

 gate to protect the vines and cranberries by water, where it 

 it is possible to be done. From my own experience and 

 observation I have yet to be fully convinced that continuous 

 flowing in the freezing months is necessary to insure a crop 

 of cranberries. This may seem to be an extraordinary state- 

 ment ; but my reason is this : It is unnatural to the vine, 

 and, when covered with water early in autumn, it becomes 

 very tender (not hardy) by spring. I have known a crop of 

 cranberries, or the buds of the same, under a mill-pond, to 

 be spoiled by the scorching rays of the sun when the water 

 was let off rather suddenly. I think the bud is oftener in- 

 jured by frosts after the water is drawn away. If it escapes 

 the heat and cold of April and May, it is more likely to be_ 

 injured by the frosts of June than those vines that withstood 

 the frosts of autumn and winter without much water. 



The cultivation of the cranberry, probably, was conducted 

 on a limited scale until within thirty-five or forty years, when 

 it received considerable attention in the vicinity of Cape 

 Cod ; and the consequences have been increased productive- 

 ness and improvement of the plant. In most of the New- 

 England and some of the Middle and Southern States, the 

 cultivation of the cranberry has received some attention; 

 but to New Jersey more than any other State is due the 

 credit of bestowing much energy, money, care, and patience, 

 in the culture of this delicious fruit, until it has assumed 

 much importance. 



The most important requisite to the successful culture of 

 the cranberry is the right kind of soil. The conclusions 

 arrived at by the observation and experience of cranberry- 

 growers generally are that a moist, peaty, or muck soil, inter- 

 mixed with beach sand, and free from loam or clay, is the 

 most suitable. The method of preparing the soil for the 

 growth of the cranberry-vine must vary with the kind of 

 soil. If it be sufficiently dry in summer, the cheapest and 

 most direct method to fit it for receiving the vine would be 



