No. 4.] CliANBEllliY CULTUKE. 365 



CEANBERRY CULTURE. 



BY EDMUND HERSEY OF HINGIIAM. 



To secure success in the business of oTowins; cranberries, 

 a boor should be selected that can be well drained at a 

 moderate expense ; it should have on its borders a good sand 

 bank, free from clay or loam, and there should be a good 

 supply of water that can be kept under full control at all 

 seasons of the year. Without good drainage, whatever may 

 be said to the contrary, the cranberry cannot be grown with 

 success ; in fact, it cannot be grown at all in water. Water 

 is of value only when the plant is at rest or when used to 

 kill insects and to prevent frosts ; and even to use it for these 

 purposes is destructive to the fruit and a great injury to the 

 plant if kept on more than a few hours at each flooding. 

 Because the cranberry grows naturally where the land is 

 quite wet and usually flooded during the cold weather, the 

 conclusion is too often drawn that water is essential to its 

 growth ; but a careful investigation will disclose the fact that 

 where the cranberry grows naturally and produces good crops 

 the water covers the surfice of the bog only during the time 

 the plants are in a dormant state ; that before they begin to 

 grow the water is from six to twelve inches below the tops 

 of the plants, and that good drainage is secured by a net- 

 work of partially decayed vegetation just below the growing 

 cranberry plants. It is a fact that is now well known by 

 observing cranberry growers that cranberries grow best on 

 thoroughly drained land, with the water from twelve to 

 eighteen inches below the surface during the summer months. 



One of the principal advantages of covering a bog with 

 sand is to furnish good drainage and more heat than can be 

 obtained in a natural bog. While a cranberry })lant set in 

 sand, where the drainage is good, will frequently grow four 



