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nation rather than perpendicularly, as it will sucker up better 

 and sooner cover the ground. Some bogs are set in a hap- 

 hazard way, without regard to distance or rows ; but all such 

 planting is likely to be followed by careless cultivation, and is 

 properly known as the slipshod method. 



But little fruit need be expected before the third year from 

 planting, after which it will increase rapidly if all the conditions 

 are favorable. In many experiments it has been found that the 

 expense and income account will just about balance the fourth 

 year. 



The first cost of preparing a cranberry bog will depend very 

 much upon the condition in which it is found at the commence- 

 ment. If covered by a growth of trees, or if filled with stumps 

 where wood has been recently cut, the work of fitting up will be 

 expensive. But if it is merely necessary to turn the sod with a 

 plow, or remove it with heavy hoes made for the purpose, and if 

 located near suitable sand deposits, the cost will be compara- 

 tiveh' small. It is safe to say that the expense will vary from 

 two to five hundred dollars an acre ; and that, under favorable 

 circumstances, the cultivator may reasonably expect a return of 

 his investment in four or five years. 



PROFITS OF THE CROP. 



Cranberry culture, when conducted intelligently, is no longer 

 a speculative business. In many localities it has become per- 

 manent and profitable. A good meadow, in a bearing condition, 

 is readily worth $1,000 per acre. A bushel to a square rod is 

 not an uncommon yield, and a single rod has been reported as 

 yielding more than six bushels, or at the rate of over nine hun- 

 dred bushels to an acre. One hundred bushels per acre is called 

 a good average crop. But there will be many failures in grow- 

 ing cranberries, as with all other fruits. 



PICKING THE FRUIT. 



The fruit was formerly gathered by rakes, but is now mostly 

 picked by hand. The work is done mainly by women and chil- 

 dren, at a cost of about fifty cents per bushel. When the rows 

 are visible, each picker is confined strictly to his row ; but if the 

 bed has become one solid mat, plots are staked off containing 



