COWPEA 



CRANBERRY 



873 



and the catjangs (V. catjang), Piper lists 270 varieties. 

 As a class the catjangs may be distinguished from the 

 true cowpeas by the smaller size of the seeds and 

 pods and by the latter remaining upright throughout 

 their growth period, never becoming strictly pendulous 

 even after ripening. At the present time the true cow- 

 peas are much more widely grown than the catjangs 

 but the latter may yet come into more prominence on 

 account of the resistance to the weevil of their small 

 hard seeds. The cowpea is to the South what clover is 

 to the North and alfalfa is to the West. It is sown 

 broadcast after the manner of field peas. From three to 

 five pecks of seed are used to the acre. See Cowpeas, 

 Farmers' Bulletin No. 89, U. S. Dept. of Agric., by Jared 

 G. Smith; Bulletin No. 102, pt. VI, and Bulletin No. 

 229 of the Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of 

 Agric. ; Cyclo. Amer. Agric., Vol. II, p. 260. For a 

 botanical discussion of the cowpea and its taxonomic 

 relatives, see Vigna. GEO. F. FREEMAN. 



COWSLIP. The true English cowslip is Primula 

 officinalis. The plant wrongly called cowslip in America 

 is the marsh marigold, Caltha palustris. The "American 

 cowslip" is a popular name for Dodecatheon Meadia. 

 The name "Virginian cowslip" is sometimes used for 

 Mertensia virginica. 



CRAB'S-EYE VINE: Abrus. 



CRAB-APPLE in its widest sense means a small 

 apple. The crab-apples of botanists are particularly 

 fruits of Pyrus baccata. For more restricted uses of the 

 word crab, see Pyrus. 



CRAB-GRASS : One of several names for Eleusine indica ; also 

 for certain Panicums, as P. sanguinale (or Digitaria sanguinalis). 



CRAMBE (old Greek substantive). Crudferae. 

 Herbs or sub-shrubs, one grown in the vegetable-gar- 

 den, and one or two in the hardy herbary. 



Annuals, biennials or perennials, with thickened sts., 

 and more or less fleshy Ivs., glaucous: Ivs. mostly large, 

 more or less cut, lyrate or pinnatifid: fls. small, white, 

 fragrant, in panicled racemes: fr. 2-jointed, indehis- 

 cent, the lower joint st.-like and seedless, the upper one 

 globular and 1-seeded. About 20 species in Eu., Asia, 

 and 1 in Patagonia. Of easy cult. 



cordif61ia, Stev. Excellent foliage plant, withstand- 

 ing the winters in the northern states: Ivs. very 

 large and heavy, cordate and ovate, toothed, glabrous 

 or nearly so: fls. small but very numerous, in great 

 branchy panicles 5-7 ft. high and nearly as broad, over- 

 topping the mass of root-lvs. Caucasus. Gn. 50, p. 

 349. Gng. 4:291. For the first 2 years from seed the 

 plant makes only Ivs.; but the third year it may be 

 expected to bloom, after which the plant usually 

 becomes weak and dies. 



maritima, Linn. SEA-KALE. Perennial, smooth, 

 stout, to 2 ft. : Ivs. large, heavy and cut, more or less 

 fringed or curled, glaucous green: fls. many, white, 

 broad, honey-scented, in a tall panicle, in May. Coasts 

 of Eu. Grown as a garden vegetable. See Sea-kale. 



C. juncea, Bieb. Biennial: small species with white fls. in an 

 attractively slender-branched panicle. Iberia. C. Kotschyana, 

 Boiss. Perennial: Ivs. somewhat hairy, the radical ones cordate- 

 ovate with rounded dentate lobes, the st.-lvs. few, ovate-oblong.lobed. 

 W. Asia. C. tatdrica, Jacq. Perennial, said to be grown in Hungary 

 as "Tartarian bread." Glaucous, more or less rough-hairy: radical 

 Ivs. decompound, with linear segms. Hungary, E. j^ jj_ g^ 



CRANBERRY. A name applied to trailing species of 

 the genus Vaccinium (Ericaceae) ; much grown in North 

 America for the fruit. Plate XXIX. 



Of the true cranberries, there are two species in 

 North America, the small (Vaccinium Oxy coccus), and 

 the large (V. macrocarpon). The large cranberry, V. 

 macrocarpon (Fig. 1087), is now cultivated on thou- 

 sands of acres in the United States and this cranberry 

 culture is one of the most special and interesting of all 



1087. Vaccinium macro- 

 carpon, the common cran- 

 berry. (X 1 A) 



pomological pursuits. This cranberry grows wild only 

 in North America, where it is native to acid swamps 

 in the cooler parts of the United States and in Canada. 

 Here it trails its slender stems and small oval ever- 

 green leaves over the sphag- 

 num and boggy turf, and the 

 firm red berries which ripen 

 during September and October 

 often persist on the vines till 

 the following spring or even 

 longer. The curve of the 

 slender pedicel in connection 

 with the bud just before the 

 blossom opens, with its re- 

 semblance to the head and 

 neck of a crane, is said to have 

 suggested the name craneberry 

 which is now shortened to 

 cranberry. 



The low-bush cranberry, or 

 wolf berry (V. Vitis Idssa), is 

 much used in Nova Scotia and 

 other parts, and is gathered 

 and shipped in large quanti- 

 ties to Boston; but it is not 

 cultivated. This berry is also 

 common in Europe, where it 

 is much prized. The quanti- 

 ties of this fruit imported into 

 the United States from various 

 sources is considerable. 



The ideal bog for cranberry- 

 culture should have the follow- 

 ing qualifications: (1) Capa- 

 bility of being drained of all 

 surface water, so that free 

 water does not stand higher 

 than 1 foot below the surface 

 in the growing season. (2) Soil that retains moisture 

 through the summer, for cranberries suffer greatly in 

 drought. (3) Sufficient water-supply to enable it to be 

 flooded. (4) A fairly level or even surface, so that the 

 flooding will be of approximately uniform depth over 

 the entire area. (5) Not over liability to frosts. 



The water of the streams and pools in the acid 

 swamps or bogs, which are the natural habitat of the 

 cranberry, is usually, but not invariably, of a brownish 

 or amber color, and some of the most common asso- 

 ciate plants are the swamp huckleberry or blueberry 

 (Vaccinium corymbosum), the cassandra or leather-leaf 

 (Charmedaphne calyculata), the red maple (Acer rubrum) 

 and the swamp cedar (Charmecyparis thyoides). 



There are three centers for the production of cran- 

 berries in the United States: Massachusetts, where 

 cranberry-culture began and from which come the 

 most berries; New Jersey second; and Wisconsin third. 

 While the culture is in most respects similar in these 

 three centers, each has its own characteristic methods 

 of preparation and care of the bogs. There is also 

 an important and growing cranberry industry in 

 Nova Scotia. 



The cranberry bog. Figs. 1088-1090. 



To insure success in cranberry-culture, a prime 

 requisite is to locate the bog on soil on which wild 

 cranberries or some of their common associate plants 

 flourish. This is usually a black peaty formation from 

 a few inches to 7 or 8 feet in depth, overlying sand 

 which in turn is frequently underlaid by a "hardpan" 

 that is nearly impervious to water and the presence 

 of which had much to do with the formation of the 

 peat. Another requisite is to make sure of an ample 

 supply of water, preferably of the brownish color, for 

 winter flooding and for protection from frost in spring 

 and fall. Flooding at special times is also the safest 

 and surest weapon against many kinds of insects. 



