74 ANNUAL REPORT, 
: : TIME OF SETTING. , 
” 
The spring of the year is, doubtless, most favorable for vine set- 
ting, but convenience may force the process at other periods. Ihave 
known vines to do well set as late as the middle of June, but would 
not advise it after the first of June. Fall setting may be done from 
the 20th of September till the ground closes up. But unless you are 
prepared to flow your bogs, vines should not be set after the ground 
begins to freeze hard nights, as freezing and thawing will be likely 
to throw them out of the ground. One advantage of fall setting is, 
that vines can be selected on the recommendation of a recent crop, 
and the cultivator will not be likely to be deceived in this important 
matter. Vines, however, may be collected in the fall for spring set- 
ting, and packed down in a damp cellar or other suitable place, where 
they will not dry up. 
For the benefit of any who may desire to introduce the berry into 
their natural meadows and swales, without cultivation, we will des- 
cribe another method, called sod setting. This is simple and sure 
with regard to the vines growing, and is the only method short of 
thorough cultivation that-we would recommend to anybody; and we 
would by no means advise this, where the conditions are favorable 
for cultivation. The process consists in removing sods from your 
natural meadow two, three, or four feet apart each way, and insert- 
ing sods from a natural cranberry meadow, pressing them down well 
with the feet. Vines in natural meadows, bearing superior fruit, may 
be propagated to an indefinite extent by this method, at slight ex- 
pense, and considerable profits realized. 
A word about picking and packing, We must repeat here our 
adage, ‘‘ Painstaking wins,” in this business everywhere. Slovenli- 
ness always makes a dull market. The berries should be picked by 
hand, and spread, not more than five or six inches deep, in hurdles, 
made of laths, left open, so the air can draw through them. 
These hurdles may be piled in a dry room for a period not longer 
than three weeks, when they should be winnowed, (hand cleaning is 
best,) and every unsound berry culled out, then packed in clean, dry 
barrels or boxes, for market. I have known $2.00 a barrel paid toa 
man who had for several years followed this careful method, over the 
price which his neighbors were able to get for fruit, equally as good 
except in the method of packing. Every market gardener and dairy- 
man will readily understand this. 
With the hope that some additional hints may be gathered, of val- 
ue to the intended cultivator, we give a brief history of the cranber- 
ry business in the Eastern States. 
ITS HISTORY. 
The first attempts to produce this excellent fruit by cultivation, 
were nearly simultaneous in this country and England. In 18138, 
Capt. Henry Hall, of Dennis, Barnstable county, Massachusetts, 
commenced the cultivation of the cranberry on a small scale, His 
experiment was very successful, the bog or garden continuing pro- 
ductive to a surprising extent, and without failure of a good crop for 
