104 THE FRUIT GROWERS GUIDE. 



A bed or beds are easily formed adjoining a pond, an excavation being made 2 feet 

 deep, and half filled with stones, completing with a layer of fibrous sandy peat. Cran- 

 berries do not require constant flooding. From a bed 30 feet in length a sufficient 

 quantity of berries may be procured for the supply of a family throughout the year. 



The plants should be put out early in autumn or in spring, 2 feet apart 

 every way. They soon spread and cover the ground. It is an excellent plan to 

 cover the bed with a layer of sand, as these plants produce in proportion to the 

 sturdiness of their growth, and sand solidifies their structure. Weeds must be 

 eradicated, for, though the home of cranberries is amongst grass and other coarse 

 herbage in which the plant manages to hold its own, they are improved by clean 

 culture. 



The beds should be submerged about every six weeks during the summer, at 

 shorter intervals if hot and dry, always flooding them about the middle of June 

 to set the fruit. Naturally cranberry plants are often submerged in winter, but we 

 have not found any advantage in the plan, as practised in the United States, of flooding 

 during the winter, and draining the water off in the spring. Picking commences 

 in October. Frost softens the cranberry, and gradually deprives it of its peculiar 

 flavour ; still, in mild seasons it remains excellent up to January. 



