SECRETARY'S REPORT. 97 



fresh, and the other in salt water. There are two, if not three 

 distinct varieties of peat, but all peat and all mud, whether fresh 

 or originally salt, seem to have the same influence on the 

 growth of the cranberry, and practically may be regarded as 

 the same. 



The best soil for the cranberry is beach or quartz sand, over- 

 laid by about a foot of turfy peat. Of this character are some 

 of the most productive bogs in Harwich. In preparing such 

 bogs all that is needed is to subsoil the same, bringing about 

 three inches of sand to the surface. Underlaying the deeper 

 peats the sand lias become indurated ; but on exposure to the 

 air, crumbles like meal or lime, and may be a useful top-dress- 

 ing. If the peat is deep, and covered with rushes, wild grasses 

 or bushes, the whole must be pared over, down to the bottom 

 of the roots, and removed, and the bog covered with beach or 

 quartz sand, from five to fifteen inches in depth. 



On rich interval lands the same precautions must be used. If 

 a thick coating of sand is not first spread over, it will be diffi- 

 cult to keep out the wild grasses, and if kept out, the cran- 

 berry vines will, as on the deep peats, make too much wood and 

 be unproductive. Some interval lands are naturally adapted 

 to the growth of the cranberry. Such are usually found near 

 the sources of streams or on the borders of rapid rivers. They 

 contain much sand and fine gravel, and are easily brought into 

 cultivation. Of this character are the bogs of Mr. Samuel 

 Lombard in Barnstable, and I am also informed that Dr. Mil- 

 ler's bog at Franklin is similar. 



On pure, deep, black peat, the cranberry vine will grow more 

 rapidly than in any other soil. A single crop will perhaps be 

 obtained, and then the vines become abortive. The same is 

 true of vines grown on rich intervals, if the wild grasses are 

 kept out. The vines in such situations are very rank, the 

 uprights of twice the length they are in productive bogs, and 

 on comparing the two, it will be found that the unproductive 

 vines are soft and flimsy, while the productive ones are stitf 

 and hard. A careful chemical analysis of the two would prob- 

 ably disclose the fact that the productive vine contains more 

 silex in its constituent parts than the unproductive. That this 

 is so, is shown by the touch alone. The productive vines are 



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