3GG BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pul). Doc. 



feet the first season, it will not grow one foot if set in sand 

 where the drainage is so poor that the water will stand in 

 pools twelve hours after every shower. "Water is important 

 to success in cranberry growhig, but it must be under the 

 control of the grower at all seasons of the year. The bog- 

 may be covered with water from November until May to 

 advantage, but it should not be let on all at once nor suddenly 

 drawn off; the letting on and drawing off should cover sev- 

 eral weeks of time, and a great depth of water is desirable 

 only in the coldest weather, to keep the ice above the plants. 

 The ditches should be well filled by the first of September 

 and kept full until about the first of June, in order to })rotect 

 the fruit in the autumn and the fruit-buds in the spring. 



In whatever business man is to make much of a success, he 

 must not only have all the conditions favorable, but must 

 make himself acquainted with all the details, and, in fact, 

 make himself master of the business. This applies to the 

 cranberry Inisiness quite as well as to any other. If a bog 

 cannot be easily drained, has no sand or fine gravel near it, 

 and has not plenty of water, easily controlled, it would be 

 well to hesitate about using it for growing cranberries ; but 

 if it has good drainage and good sand or gravel near, in 

 eight years out of ten it might produce fair crops of fruit 

 without water. While water is important, it is less so than 

 either drainage or sand. With these three conditions favor- 

 able, no one who will give the business proper attention need 

 hesitate to engage in it. 



Having secured such a bog, the first work is to drain it. 

 If it be a deep bog that has never been drained, allowance 

 must be made for the settling of the surface after the water is 

 drawn off. It is safe to allow eighteen inches if the outlet is 

 to be lowered three feet below the surface of the bog ; this 

 will jzive a chance to draw the water at least twelve inches 

 below the surface. In digging the ditches for draining, 

 while the main water course may be in the centre of the bog, 

 there should always be a ditcli between the bog and the high 

 land to catch all the water that flows over the surface of the 

 surrounding high lands towards tlie bog. Having thoroughly 

 drained the bog by lowering the water in the main ditch and 

 preventing it from flowing in from the surrounding high 



