422 THE EVOLUTION OP OUR NATIVE FRUITS 



essary to remove the upper foot or so of the surface in order to 

 get rid of the roots, bushes and undecayed accumulations. This 

 process is termed "turfing." The turf is commonly cut into 

 -small squares and hauled off. It is necessary to leave the surface 

 level and even, in order that all the plants may have an equal 

 chance and thereby make an even and continuous bed, and to 

 avoid inequalities in flooding. Although the cranberry thrives in 

 swamps and endures flooding at certain seasons, it nevertheless 

 demands comparative dryness during the growing and fruiting 

 season. The swamp must, therefore, be drained. Open ditches 

 are cut at intervals of four or five rods, about two feet deep, and 

 these lead into the main or flooding ditch. It is also often neces- 

 sary to run a ditch around the outside of the bog to catch the 

 wash from the banks. The areas enclosed within the intersections 

 of the ditches are called sections, and each section is commonly 

 planted to a single variety. The main ditch is usually a straight- 

 ened creek, or it carries the overflow from a reservoir which may 

 be built for the purpose of affording water to flood the bog. 

 Growers always divert a creek through the bog if possible. In 

 the Cape Cod districts these creeks are often clear trout brooks. 

 The main ditch is strongly dammed to allow of flooding. 



Before planting is done, the bog is sanded. This operation 

 consists in covering the whole surface with about four inches of 

 clean and coarse sand, free from roots and weeds. The chief 

 object of sanding is to prevent too rapid growth and consequent 

 unproductiveness of vines. In wild bogs, the cranberry rarely 

 roots deeply in the muck, but subsists rather in the loose sphag- 

 num moss. Vines that grow in pure muck rarely produce well. 



The sand also serves as a mulch to the muck, mitigating 

 extremes of drought and moisture. It also prevents the heaving 

 of the vines in winter, and it aids in subduing weeds. Every 

 four or five years after the bog begins to bear it is necessary to 

 re-sand it, in order to maintain productiveness. These subsequent 

 applications are light, however, seldom more than a half inch in 

 depth. The Cape Cod bogs are fortunate in their proximity to 

 the sand. 



It was once the practice to plant cranberry vines in "sods," 

 or clumps, just as they are dug from the swamps. There are 

 several vital objections to this operation, and it is now given 



