No. 4.] CRANBERRY CULTURE. 391 



and largo pump may be used, with which the flooding can 

 be done. 



The lot having been selected, the trees and larger bushes 

 should be cut about and their stumps tipped out by the aid 

 of their tops and some mechanical power, a four-fold tackle 

 being generally sufficient, though a stump puller is some- 

 times used. The larger wood is taken to the adjoining up- 

 land, the stumps, brush and roots burned ; ditches are then 

 cut around the outside, between the swamp to be planted 

 and the adjoining higher land. These should be from one 

 and one-half to two feet deep and from two to three feet 

 wide, varying as the location be wet or dry, a very spring v 

 swamp not being as desirable as one which, though peaty 

 or mucky, is not filled with active springs. The main water 

 way, which is usually to be found near the centre of the 

 swamp, should be straightened and deepened. Cross ditches 

 are also cut, at distances of from four to eight rods apart. 



The brush and wood being disposed of and the ditches 

 completed, the surface is next made level. For this pur- 

 pose thin bog or stub hoes, with a sharp cutting edge, are 

 used, the smaller roots being cut off and raked out, when 

 they in turn are burned or carried off. To assist in getting 

 a level, the ditches are filled to within a few inches of the 

 surface with water, this water line being very useful in 

 securing the desired plane. A dam at the lower end of the 

 tract is to be constructed, with gates, that the flowage may 

 be regulated at will. 



After the clearing, ditching and levelling have been com- 

 pleted, comes the sanding, for which purpose all soil is 

 removed from the portions of the upland that the sand is to 

 be taken from. This coarse sand is spread upon the surface 

 to a depth of from three to six inches, more if the swamp 

 is naturally wet or springy and inclined to a rank, vegetable 

 growth, while the lesser depth may be sufficient if the soil 

 is quite dry, and free from grass or water growth. This 

 covering is usually carried on in barrows having a small 

 wheel, these being run upon a one and one-half by eight 

 inch plank for a track. The sand is raked to the desired 

 thickness as fast as wheeled on, one man doing the levelling 



