72 _ ANNUAL REPORT. 
equal width, which was thrown on, leveled, and covered with sand. 
This process was repeated till the whole bog was made, the last strip 
being sanded from a sand pit. 
Some interval lands are naturally adapted to the growth of the 
cranberry. These are found nearer the sources or on the borders of 
rivers and lesser streams containing much sand and fine gravel, and 
are easily and cheaply brought into cultivation. A light dressing of 
two or three inches of sand is all that is required to repress intruding 
vegetation, with shallow ditches to facilitate surface drainage after 
flooding. Interval lands, however, that are very rich, require to be 
heavily dressed with sand, or wild grasses will assert their supre- 
macy. j 
In addition to what we have said already about tools, we hardly 
need add that a manure fork will be found convenient in handling 
turf. For shovelling sand the round pointed shovel is best, and for 
ditching, a square pointed one, ground sharp 
For moving sand long distances, a hand gravel car to be manned 
with five or six hands, is desirable. 
A track for this car may be constructed with four inch joists, firmly 
tied by cross slats, and of a length to be conveniently moved. The 
car itself may be modelled after the gravel car of the railroads. 
SELECTION AND SETTING VINES—VARIETIES. 
There are three leading varieties of the cranberry, viz: The Bell, - 
the Oblong or Egg shaped, and the Cherry, deriving their names 
from their form. Frequently all of these will be found growing wild 
on a single square rod. Careful examination has detected several 
other varieties, differing in form, color, productiveness, and time of 
ripening, butyless distinct than the three named. I have not had 
opportunity to examine the native bogs of Minnesota, while in fruit, 
but from an examination of the product in market, I judge that they 
are marked by the same general characteristics of the natural bogs 
in the east. In the different lots, which I have seen on sale, the two 
first of the leading varieties, the Bell and Oblong, respectively pre- 
dominate. In commencing the cultivation of this fruit here, it will 
hardly be possible to stock a bog with any single variety. To obtain 
vines from the east would be quite expensive, without any assurance 
of getting the desired variety after all. Most cultivators have ob- 
tained their vines from wild swamps, and the fruit exhibits the same 
variety ; often in a single handful all the varieties are found. The 
native fruit, like the strawberry, is much improved by cultivation, 
both in size and solidity. There is a marked difference in the time 
of repening of the same varieties in different localities, and it is de- 
sirable to stock a bog with some early growers to accommodate the 
time of harvesting. Late growers are generally more prolific, but in 
gathering the product of several acres it is desirable to begin as early 
as possible. The earliest bearers are ready for harvesting about the 
middle of September, and on a well arranged bog the harvest season 
can be prolonged till the first of November. One very essential point 
in the successful cultivation of the cranberry, is to procure good 
