AND GENERAL HOETICULTURE. 



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their vitality ; but the plant throws out new 

 roots from the stem. In putting out the 

 young plants, make a hole four or five inches 

 deep, with a stick or dibble, in which place 

 the plant, and press the soil around it firmly 

 with the foot. Leave an inch to an inch and 

 a half of the young vine above ground. When 

 planting, if practicable, water freely, to settle 

 the sand around the plant; the stem will 

 soon begin to grow. They are very tenacious 

 of life, and if, when received, they are appar- 

 ently dry, put them into water from five to 

 six hours before planting; they will regain 

 their freshness and be sure to grow. Where 

 failures have occurred, it has been owing to 

 their having been taken from the parcel and 

 put out in a dry soil. Another plan adopted 

 by some growers, is to take the vines up 

 without roots, often four or five feet in length, 

 which they cut and sow in drills, oi lay the 

 vines down in a trench, and cover with soil, or 

 with a stick two inches wide and half an inch 

 thick, crowd the vines down into the soil three 

 or four inches deep. It will take eight to ten 

 barrels of clean vines per acre. In this case 

 they are not planted so deep, and ai'e not so 

 apt to live as when planted with a dibble, as 

 advised above, with the roots attached. They 

 are usually sold in parcels of 100 each, and 

 will pack more closely and cost much less 

 than barreled vines, and are the onlj' kind 

 that can be forwarded by mail. Ten thousand 

 of these will plant more ground than eight or 

 ten barrels of vines. If placed two feet apart 

 each waj' 10,000 will plant an acre ; they can 

 be cultivated with a cultivator or horse hoe, 

 to keep down grass and weeds ; and after one 

 or two years of cultivation they will take care 

 of themselves, or it will only be necessary to 

 pull out what little grass may grow. If wanted 

 in small patches or in gardens, they can be 

 planted a footapart, and will coverthe ground 

 much sooner. Vines usually sold by the bar- 

 rel have clinging to the roots earth that is 

 full of the seeds of weeds, which are intro- 

 duced into the soil, demanding much labor to 

 keep the plants clean ; it is therefore better 

 to purchase clean vines. The Cranberry can 

 be planted out at almost any season of the 

 year when the ground is not frozen ; in the 

 fall from September until the ground freezes ; 

 in spring, until Julj- ; in the South or West, 

 from October to March. If the vines are 

 received too late for planting, or if frozen, 

 they can be covered with earth or damp moss 

 in a box, and placed in a cellar until they can 

 be planted out, after being placed in water for 

 a few hours. Overflowing or flooding is desir- 

 able, if not indispensable to complete success. 

 The water may remain on the vines until the 

 10th of May in the latitude of N. Y., or until 

 there is no danger from frost. It may cover 

 the vines from one to two feet or more, and 

 if it can be let on or off at will for a few hours 

 during the season, it will prevent drought, 

 and also destroy the worm, which is some- 

 times very destructive. The water should 

 not stand on them when in flower, as it would 

 injure the pollen and prevent fruiting, or 

 when the fruit is quite green. The best known 

 and most extensively cultivated is the Bell, of 

 which there are two or three varieties. The 

 Cape Cod Bell is the best known, and has been 

 more extensively cultivated than any other 

 variety. The color is a dark red, but it often 



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varies in color and shape on different soils, 

 but its bearing and ripening qualities are the 

 same, being of good size and medium early. 

 The Bugle is an old variety, rather early, of 

 medium size to large, a good keeper, color 

 dark scarlet, and a medium bearer. The 

 Cherry generally grows on wet soil or moist 

 upland. Of this there are a number of 

 varieties; but the one most commonly 

 planted is of medium size, round shape, bright 

 red color, a good bearer, but rather later 

 than other varieties ; it is a leading market 

 sort. Another, called Mottled Bell pink on 

 white ground, is a very handsome fruit, but 

 late and little grown. Two new varieties 

 have lately been introduced, which, by a num- 

 ber of years' cultivation, we think superior to 

 the above in several particulars, being early 

 and constant bearers when others fail, and in 

 the future they are likely to become leading 

 sorts. In some sections there would have 

 been a short crop but for these kinds. The 

 Eaton's Early Black Bell stands first. It 

 ripens very early, is fully colored by the 5th 

 of September in New England, is uniform in 

 color and shape, of a very handsome dark I'ed 

 color, almost black, of medium and uniform 

 size, a great and constant bearer, a good 

 keeper, and the vines hardy ; and being early, 

 it brings the highest price in market. The 

 Mansfield Creeper was first discovered in a 

 corn-field, and transplanted to a Cranberry 

 bed. In its new position it was found to be 

 entirely different in its growth and habit from 

 all other varieties. It seemed to creep on 

 the ground and take root at every joint, pro- 

 ducing bearing shoots every two or three 

 inches on the vine, and throwing out fruit 

 buds for a fresh start another year. It is a 

 few days later than the Eaton Bell. Both are 

 adapted to upland culture. It is of large size 

 and a great bearer ; the flesh is more tender, 

 and not so acid ; color dark scarlet on one 

 side, the other side nearly white, and 

 slightly mottled ; shape roundish oval. It is a 

 fine keeper. A writer in the New Hampshire 

 "Journal of Agriculture" describes a plot of 

 nearly three-fourths of an acre, completely 

 covered with beds of Cranberries, the 

 vines "thickly matted and in a fiourishing 

 condition." The grounds, which were natur- 

 ally slightly moist, were prepared as for 

 Strawberries, and then planted with Cran- 

 beiTy vines. They were placed in rows or 

 beds, in the same manner as Strawberry 

 plants, and then served with a top dressing 

 of meadow mud, which had been taken from 

 its natural bed and exposed to the frosts of 

 one winter, by which it was rendered verj' 

 loose and friable. They were afterward culti- 

 vated with the hoe until they had completely 

 covered the ground, simply passing between 

 the beds, pulling out such weeds and grass 

 as might occasionally be seen growing among 

 them, and killing the worms, if any were 

 found on the plants. The proprietor suc- 

 ceeded in obtaining a good crop, or an average 

 of 160 bushels to the acre. The fruit was of 

 excellent quality, and sold readily for one- 

 third more than the common uncultivated 

 Cranberry of the swamps in that vicinity. 

 The above writer considers any soil that will 

 produce a crop of ^hdian corn suitable for a 

 Cranberry plot. In regard to the success of 

 Mr. Bates in his method of culture, Mr. B. G. 



