93 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



experience, and thus avoided falling into some of the errors of 

 their predecessors. Though many facts in regard to the cul- 

 ture, and much information has thus been obtained, yet no 

 reliable system has been established. The science is in its 

 infancy, and much is yet to be learned. 



SOIL. 



The cranberry cannot be successfully cultivated on the '■'■l^ift 

 Formation." Hundreds of experiments have been tried and 

 all have proved to be failures. It is unnecessary to give details 

 — they would fill a volume — and be of little practicable utility. 

 Professor Agassiz describes the Drift Formation as being that 

 portion of the earth's surface which was formed by glacial 

 action, and consisting of rocks not in place; that is, loose, and 

 not in solid ledges ; gravel, clay and loam. The definition is 

 plain and simple, and every farmer will understand it, and will 

 be able to distinguish drift as soon as he sees it. In that /orm- 

 ation^ strata of sand are often found, but it usually contains 

 some loam, and it is better to avoid its use. Bogs, naturally well 

 adapted to the growth of the cranberry, have been ruined by 

 using drift material in preparing them. In some bogs, where 

 partly drift and partly alluvium was iised, the exact line between 

 the two can be traced by the difference in the growth and 

 appearance of the vines. 



The Alluvial Formation is the only one on whicli the cran- 

 berry can be successfully cultivated. Though this formation 

 includes the most barren and the most fertile soils, the dryest 

 ,^nd the most damp, yet its character is well marked and it can 

 rbe easily distinguished. Drift is formed by glacial [ice] action, 

 ,aliuvium by water acting on the drift. Beach sand or quartz 

 rock pulverized or granulated is alluviun{, separated from the 

 drift by the waves and currents of tiie ocean, and elevated into 

 hills by the action of the winds. The deltas or rich interval 

 ■lands near the outlets of rivers are alluvium, and are formed by 

 the subsiding of the finer particles brought down by the current 

 of the streams. The mud found in the narrow bogs and creeks, 

 near the seashore, is of the same character. Salt and fresh 

 meadows, formed partly by such deposits of mud, and partly by 

 decayed vegetable and animal matter, belong to the same class. 

 Peat differs from marsh mud only in this: one is formed in 



