66 - ANNUAL REPORT. 
inasmuch as marshes are the native home of the cranberry, so he put 
his money into a marsh that could not be drained at all. The result 
was grass and rushes and little or no fruit. 
Another man thought he had just the spot for a good bog; plenty 
of sand and water, both good, especially the water, being just the 
thing for trout raising. He indeed had all he counted on, and more 
‘too, for his bog was so full of springs that drainage was impossible, 
and his experiment goes on to the list of failures. 
Another man had all the necessary conditions except as to the 
quality of the water. This, when drawn off, left a heavy scum on 
the vines, which blasted the berry in the blossom, and the investment 
of several thousand dollars proved unremunerative. 
Another man had a splendid site—the bed of an old mill pond, 
with the dam and flume still remaining. It was a good meadow, but 
he wanted to make a fortune by raising cranberries. He had been 
told that this spot could not be beat, and it was really true. He had 
read considerably, but was going to use his common sense, and he 
could not see the use of expending $300 or $400 on an acre when it 
could be done for $100. So he put on a heavy team and plowed it, 
cut his ditches, and carted material from a hillock near by—not sand, 
but sand and loam—spreading it on the furrows. This he did in the 
winter; in the spring the vines were set, and they grew splendidly, 
and so did the grass. Every year this bog produces a few berries, 
good in quality, but hard to find on account of the grass. Every 
year it produces a fine crop of hay, which he cannot cut without cut- 
ting his vines. This contest must ere long be decided in favor of 
the grass, as the method pursued was better adapted to grass than 
the growing of cranberries. 
Instances of this character might be cited indefinitely, but these 
are sufficient to convince the interested reader that hap-hazard meth- 
ods are no better in this than in other departments of business. 
Any person contemplating the investment of money in cranberry 
growing should get all the information within his reach from books, 
papers, conversation, and if possible by observation, before he com- 
mences. Butif he can avail himself of the company of an expe- 
rienced cultivator to walk over and inspect his proposed site and its 
facilities, he will derive safer guidance from his advice than he would 
get by months of reading. 
This is the negative side of the subject, and perhaps we have said 
enough to guard the mind against unduly expanding any general 
statements which may be made on the other side. 
SELECTION OF A SITE FOR A CRANBERRY BOG. 
The first point to which the attention of the person should be directed 
who proposes to engage in raising cranberries, is a suitable spot. 
This will depend, in some degree, on what he proposes to himself; if to 
purchase land, the whole State is open for selection. If he already 
owns land, he has to investigate and decide on its adaptation to the 
business. Then again, he should decide whether he intends to culti- 
vate according to the strict meaning of the word, or merely to prop- 
agate the vine on lands in their normal condition. If the latter, 
