FRUIT CULTURE. 157 



from frost, wliich often gives scarcely an honr's notice of its 

 approach ; and this, too, without the danger of scalding which 

 arises when water is suffered to remain about the vines through 

 the bright sunshine which sometimes follows a September frost. 

 In such a location the whole surface can be flowed in winter to 

 such a depth as to secure the roots from injury through the 

 heaving of the soil ; and the flowing can be continued at such 

 a height, and to such a time in the spring as future experience 

 and research may determine to be effectual for the destruction 

 of the cranberry worm. And in such a location the vines may 

 be easily supplied with moisture, if necessary, while the fruit 

 is maturing. The latter coiisideration is not of great import- 

 ance, for such a necessity very seldom occurs. 



Cranberry meadows, both natural and cultivated, are far 

 oftener too wet than too dry. This is always the case where, 

 on digging, water is found within eighteen inches of the sur- 

 face. Hence, where there is but a choice of advantages, an 

 opportunity for thorough drainage is preferable to facilities for 

 flowing. The testimony of experts is universally to the point 

 that vines are more vigorous on slight elevations of surface, and 

 on the banks of ditches, where the drainage is most perfect, 

 than elsewhere. Through the meadows of Mr. Stetson, one of 

 the competitors, is a dike or causeway, composed of turf and 

 moss, covered with gravel, and used as a pathway to and from 

 the upland. The vines which have rooted upon the aprons of 

 this dike are, beyond all question, of more vigorous growth, 

 and were, when visited, more finely fruited than the adjacent 

 vines at the general level of the meadow. Very successful 

 experiments in cranberry culture have been made on land 

 which is never flowed, but whicli is dry enough for the plough 

 at almost any season of the year. 



Because peat, which supplies the natural aliment of the 

 cranberry plant, and in which it grows spontaneously, is usually 

 saturated with water, it is sometimes inferred that this is a sort 

 of semi-aquatic plant which will thrive only where water greatly 

 abounds. This is a mistake. Cranberries can be successfully 

 grown in any soil, however elevated, in which mould, from 

 woody or vegetable fibre, is a considerable ingredient ; and in 

 a suitable soil the danger of injury from drought is not greater 

 than in the case of other cultivated plants. From this fact 



