CHOICE OF LOCATIONS. 27 



the elements of fertility which we want to render avaihi- 

 ble for plant-food. This part has been found, by careful 

 analysis, to consist of several substances, to which has 

 been given the general name of Geine. Some kinds of 

 muck contain as high as 95 per cent of geine ; and. in 

 this are locked up nearly all tlie fertilizing substances 

 (ammonia excepted) to be found in cow-dung. The 

 average amount of soluble geine found in peat is estima- 

 ted at 25 per cent ; the more soluble it is, the greater 

 will be its value." 



/ The cranberry cannot be successfully cultivated in the 

 ^'''' Drift formation.'''' Hundreds of experiments have been 

 tried, and nearly all have proved to be failures. Pro- 

 fessor Agassiz describes the drift formation 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, clay, and loam. 

 This definition is plain, and to the point, and will enable 

 any one locating a cranberry meadow to distinguish the 

 drift, and reject it. Bogs, naturally well adapted to the 

 growth of this fruit, have been ruined by using drift ma- 

 terial in preparing them. 



In some bogs where partly drift and partly alluvium 

 were used, the exact line between the two could be traced 

 by the difference in the growth and appearance of the 

 vines. 



Such is the testimony of S. B. Phinney, of Barnstable, 

 Mass., and its truth is corroborated by our experience in 

 New Jersey. It is said " there are exceptions to all 

 general rules ;" but we never knew of but one exception 

 to the rule previously stated, that " cranberries cannot be 

 successfully cultivated on the drift formation," and that 

 was a small portion of a twelve-acre meadow near Med- 

 ford, N. J., where the vines were flourishing: upon a soil 



'5 -^" • ".J 



containing sufiicient clay to make good moulding sand. 

 But success in this instance was owinj? to the peculiar lo- 



