98 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



harsh when drawn between the fingers ; the silex with which 

 they are coated grates the skin. Tliough unproductive vines 

 are somewhat harsh, there is a marked difference between the 

 two. This shows that siHcious or quartz sand is a necessary 

 element in the production of bearing vines. In proof of the 

 correctness of this theory, I might cite the results of many 

 experiments. I will refer to only one. Many years ago, Mr. 

 IJenry Hall transferred vines from his bog near the seashore, to 

 which reference has been made, and set the vines on a deep 

 peat bog near his dwelling-house. These vines grew very 

 rapidly — soon covered the surface of the bog ; but never bore 

 fruit. There are some peat swamps, surrounded by sandy 

 lands, into which, in process of time, the rains have washed, 

 and the winds have blown sufficient sand to make the vines set 

 in them, productive ; but such bogs are rarely met with. 



DRAINAGE AND WATER. 



The first point to which the attention of the cultivator must 

 be directed in selecting a situation for a cranberry bog is 

 drainage. If it cannot be drained at least eighteen inches 

 below the general surface, the situation must be rejected. 

 Flowage is not absolutely essential to success, yet to have water 

 at command, so that the bog maybe flowed, or the water raised 

 in the ditches at any time, within twelve inches of the surface, 

 is very desirable. Bogs that are kept flowed till the 25th of 

 May or the first of June, insects rarely trouble ; and where an 

 abundance of water is at command, the damage often caused 

 by early or late frosts may be prevented. 



Where the drainage is imperfect it is impossible to keep out 

 the rushes and wild grasses, and the vines become choked, and 

 are rendered unproductive. Of this character is the bog near 

 the county road, on the west side of White's Brook, in Yar- 

 mouth. Some of the vines have been ^et more than twenty 

 years, and the soil is naturally good ; but imperfect drainage 

 has destroyed its value. 



When a situation has been selected for a cranberry bog, the 

 first thing to be done is to level it. A leveling machine is not 

 necessary. All that is required is a strip of plank ten or fifteen 

 feet in length, the edges jointed and made exactly parallel ; 



