SECRETARY'S REPORT. 99 



with this and a common carpenter's level the work may be 

 quickly done. Stakes of a foot or more in length, cut off 

 square at the tops, should be provided. Begin by driving one 

 of the stakes so that the top will correspond with the proposed 

 surface of tlie bog when completed. With this as the standing 

 point, run several lines of stakes through and across the bog. If 

 more convenient, the tops of the stakes may be elevated six or 

 more inches above tlie proposed level. This operation is impor- 

 tant because the stakes show where material is to be removed, 

 and where filling is to be required ; and by making a little cal- 

 culation, the earth to be removed may be made to exactly corres- 

 pond with the amount required for filling. But this is not the 

 principal advantage ; it requires much less water to flow a bog 

 that has a level surface than one that is uneven. If the bog is 

 extensive, and cannot, without too much expense, be reduced 

 to one common level, there is no objection to having different 

 grades with low dykes between them. It is said that in build- 

 ing railroads, nothing is ever lost by spending much time in 

 engineering. This remark has force and truth in it when 

 applied to cranberry bogs. The money and time spent in lay- 

 ing out the work to be done is always economically expended. 

 All that is to be done, and how it is to be done, should be 

 known before the work is commenced. In many bogs it would 

 be economical to employ an experienced engineer, and have 

 marked stakes p\it up, profiles and working plans drawn. 

 With such marked stakes and drawings, the workman knows, 

 when he has filled his barrow, where he is to tip its contents. 

 There will be no mistakes, no alterations to be made, and in 

 the end money will be saved. 



The depth of the sand required depends on the depth of the 

 peat. If the latter is only a foot or two in thickness, five 

 inches of sand is considered sufficient ; if it is several feet, at 

 least a foot is required to make a good bog. The more sand 

 there is used, the longer it requires to bring the vines into a 

 bearing state ; but when brought into that state, they continue 

 to bear many years. 



At Sandy Neck, on the north side of Barnstable Harbor, the 

 cranberry has grown in natural bogs for hundreds of years. 

 The soil in these bogs is beach sand, with a small admixture of 



