CEANBEREY CULTURE. 135 



known as the vine-worm and tlie berry-worm, injurious to the cranberry. The 

 lirst is a variety of the caterpillar, about half an inch in length, with a Llack 

 head. The other, when fully grown, is of nearly the same size, and has a red 

 head. The vine-worm destroys the leaves and blossoms, and, consequently, 

 the crop. The bogs in which they commit their depredations appear as if they 

 had been burnt over. The berry-worm is usually found in greater numbers in 

 the dryest part of the bog. Like the curculio, it destroys the fruit it enters. 



The cultivators who have had the most experience say that if the bog is kept 

 covered with water till the 25th of May or 1st of June these pests rarely 

 commit any depredations. 



One-half the bogs in this county are so situated that they cannot ba kept 

 flooded till June 1. Dr. Shove, of Yarmouth, Rev. Mr. Myrick, and other gen- 

 tlemen in Provincetown, have, perhaps, studied the habits of these insects more 

 carefully than any, and have experimented with decoctions of tobacco and 

 other articles. They have been partially successful. Professor Agassiz sug- 

 gests that the following experiment for destroying the fruit-worm be tried: 

 First, to ascertain at what season of the year it appeared in its miller state, 

 and, having ascertained that, to build, at night of that season of the year, small 

 fires in the vicinity of the bogs; the millers will fly into the fire and be de- 

 stroyed. If every one who has a cranberry bog will watch the habits of these 

 insects, and report his observations, much valuable information Avill be obtained. 

 This should not be carelessly done. The date of every observation should be 

 carefully noted. If building fires is the remedy, it is all important to know 

 the exact date at which the insect appears as a miller, and how long it con- 

 tinues in that state. The probability is that it does not exist as a miller more 

 than a ■week or ten days, and if the exact time is known, it is easy to apply the 

 remedy. These insects are said to be unlike any described in the books. Dr. 

 Shove says the miller of the fruit-worm appears about the time the berry begins 

 to form. If subsequent observations confirm this, it is advisable to test the 

 remedy suggested by Professor Agassiz. Dr. Shove further states that the 

 miller punctures the cranberry and lays its eggs under the skin, in the same 

 manner that the curculio punctures the plum or the cherry. 



The reason that flowing till the first of June is not a perfect remedy against 

 insects is, perhaps, this : In the fall, Avhen the insect changes from a worm and 

 becomes a chrysalis, it buries itself in the ground. All do not bury themselves 

 on the bog, but on the borders. These are not affected by the fiowage ; but, 

 as the vines are kept back by the water, further investigation may show that 

 these are the only ones that fiowage prevents from committing depredation. It 

 has not certainly been ascertained that the chrysalis of these insects is destroyed 

 by Avater, but the facts stated indicate that it is so. 



PICKING AND PACKING. 



Of late years many have been too careless in picking and packing their 

 cranberries. This is a great mistake. They should be picked by hand, and 

 spread not more than five inches deep in hurdles made of laths left open, so 

 that the air can draw through them. These hurdles should be piled for three 

 weeks iu a room Avhere the air circulates freely. If kept in this manner for a 

 longer time, it would do no harm ; the berries would become perfectly ripe, 

 and thereafter be less liable to rot or to be injured by frost. When taken from 

 the hurdles they should be winnowed, and every unsound berry picked out by 

 hand. It is also important that the barrels or packages iu which they are put 

 should be dry and clean. 



PROFITS. 



That the cultivation of the cranberry is a profitable branch of industry is 

 now a settled fact. Thus far, perhaps, much more has beeu expended thau 



