132 GRICULTURAL REPORT. 



much iuroimatioii lias tlius been obtained, yet no reliable system of cultivation 

 has been established. The science is in its infancy, and much is yet to be 

 learned. 



SOIL. 



The cranberry cannot bo successfully cultivated on the " drift formation." 

 Hundreds of experiments have been tried, and all have proved to be failures. 

 It if: unnecessary to give details — they -would fill a volume, and be of little 

 practical utility. Professor Agassiz describes the "drift furmatitm" as being 

 that portion of the earth's surface which was formed by glacial action, and 

 consisting of rocks not in place — that is, loose, and not in solid ledges — gravel, 

 cJay, and loam. This definition is plain and simple, and every farmer will 

 understand it, and will be able to distinguish drift as soon as he sees it. In 

 that formation strata .of sand are often found, but it usually contains some 

 loam, and it is better to avoid its use. Bogs naturally well adapted to the 

 growth of the cranberry have been rained by using drft material in preparing 

 them. In some bogs where partly drift and partly aUur'nim was used, the 

 e^act line between the tMo can be traced by the difference in the growth and 

 appearance of the vines. 



'Y\\Q '' alluvial format iori" \$ the only one on which the cranberry can be 

 successfully cultivated. Though this formation includes the most barren and 

 the most fertile soils — the dryest and the most damp — yet its character is well 

 marked, and it can be easily distinguished. Sand or quartz-rock, pulverized 

 or granulated, is alluvium, separated from the drift by the waves and current* 

 o>f the ocean, and elevated by the action of the winds and waves. The deltas or 

 rich interval lands near the outlets of rivers are alluvium, and arc formed by the 

 subsiding of the finer particles brought down by the current of the streams. 

 The mud found in the narrow bogs and creeks near the sea-shore is of the 

 same character. Salt and fresh meadows, formed partly by such deposits of 

 mud and partly by decayed vegetable and animal matter, belong to the same 

 class. Peat differs from marsh mud only in this, one is formed in fresh and 

 the other in salt Avater. There are two, if not three, distinct varieties of peat ; 

 but all peat and all mud, whether fresh or originally salt, seems to have the 

 same influence on the growth of the cranberry, and. practically, may be re- 

 garded as the same. 



The best soil for the cranberry is beach or quartz-sand, overlaid by about 

 a foot of turfy peat. Of this character are some of the most productive bogs 

 in Harwich. In preparing such bogs, all that is needed is to subsoil the same, 

 bringing about three inches of sand to the surface. Underlaying the deeper 

 peal^, the sand has become indurated, but on exposure to the air, crumbles 

 like meal or lime, and may be a useful top dressing. If the peat is deep, and 

 covered with ^rushes, wild grasses, or bushes, the whole must be j^ared over 

 down to the bottom of the roots and removed, and the bog covered with beach 

 or quartz-sand from five to fifteen inches in depth. 



On rich interval lands the same precautions must be used. If a thick coat- 

 ing of sand is not first spread over, it will be difficult to keep out the wild 

 grasses, and if kept out, the cranbeny vines will, as on the deep peats, make 

 too much wood and be unproductive. 



Some interval lands are naturally adapted to the growth »of the cranberry. 

 Such are usually found near the sources of streams or on the borders of rapid 

 rivers. They contain much sand and fine gravel, and are easily brought into 

 cultivation. Of this character are some of the bogs in Barnstable, and I am 

 al«io informed that bogs at Franklin are similar. 



On pure deep, black peat, the cranberry vine will grow more rapidly than 

 in any other soil. A single crop will perhaps be obtained, and then the vines 

 become abortive. The same is true of vines grown on rich intervals, if the 



