628 RUPOkT Ol' NI'AV jI':RvSI':y STATE MUSEUM. 



open savanna land or cleared eedar swamp are eonveiied into 

 ciillivalcd hoi;'. 'I'lie usual piocedtne is to coiisdiui a dyke or 

 (lam across llic shcam wliicli waters tlie tract and alonjj^ the 

 sides (if llu- area also wherever the nalnral slope of Ihe land is 

 not sufficient to serve as a barrier; ditches are then cnt (iuoui;!! at 

 intervals and the vines are pl.anled. In the late autnnm oi' early 

 winlei' llie llood^ates are pnl <lo\vii and the pfreen 1k)i^ becomes 

 a spacions lake.* iCarly in May the water is drawn off and after 

 about I wo weeks the bo.t; is aj^ain Hooded for a few days to drown 

 out certain insect pesls which devour the vines. The l)oj;s occa- 

 sionally recpiire to be sanded to lighten the soil and i)roduce 

 better i^rowlh. This is done in winter by spreadinjj;^ Ihe sand 

 over the ice, which when il inells, of coiuse, deposits (he sand 

 evenly over the bo^. 



By Seplt'Uiber lir;! thi- pickiiiL;; bi'i;ins. Some of it is done by 

 hand, but much of it by scoops provided with lonp; slender lin}.:^ers, 

 which, drawn leni^tluvise alonjr the vines, pull the berries off into 

 the hollow of the scoop. The berries that are scattered or lost 

 from Ihe scoops ai'e often secnrcMl by Hoodinq" the Ixt.qs aiii'ain, 

 when they rise to the surface and can be scooped up wherever 

 Ihey colled. The pickine^ ends about ihc middle of Oitober and 

 (hen the bojjfs are raked so as t(^ draw all the vines in one direc- 

 tion to aid Ihe LyatheriiiL;- of the next cro]). Sevei'al dilTerent 

 types of berry have oriqinaled as (he resnh of cultivation, a larpfe 

 ovoid one. the "llowcll"; a more spherical bciry. the ordinary 

 jersey form, and a smaller, daiker one, (he "Cape (\)d." All are 

 mere loinis of (). )iiacrocarpus. 



The pickiui^ was in old linu's done by the natives, but for sonic 

 years past it has been almost entirely done l>y Italians, who arc 

 bronidit down from riiiladelphia and other neij^'hborinpf cities in 

 lai'^e ninnbers, accom])anied by their wives and families, all of 

 whom aid in the work. Tiu-ir camps, with blaziuj:;' fires and 

 music at nij;hl, an- (juile i)itluresipie, ollset ;is (hey are by the 

 darkness of (he surronndini; fores( and cedar swamps. 



PI. — Mid-june (o mid-jnly. I'r. — l<a(e Au.qus( (o mid Se(>- 

 tcnibcr, persisting over winter. 



*Srf V\. CXXIX. 



