No. 4.] CRANBERRY CULTURE. 3G9 



in June, when it should be entirely drawn off and kept so 

 until the first of September. Then if there be any fruit 

 worth picking, the water should l)e let on high enough to 

 fill all the ditches up near the surface of the bog, but not 

 liiiih enouo-h to reach the fruit. 



The third year, if the bog be a good one, but little work 

 will 1)6 required except to weed out any seedling trees or 

 shrubs that may come up. The cranberry vines will cover 

 the surface enough to keep the grass out. If they do not 

 it will be because the location is not a good one. 



There are cranberry bogs in Plymouth County that have 

 been in cranberries for sixty-five years and still produce 

 good crops, although nothing has been done to them but to 

 keep the ditches open and keep out the bushes. 



While a very slight frost is destructive to a ffreen cran- 

 berry, it is but little if any injury to a well-rii^encd one. 

 For this reason, by keeping the ditches full of water during 

 the period of slight frosts, while the fruit is ripening, as a 

 rule, the crop will be saved ; but should it be cold enough to 

 freeze water, the crop can only be saved by flooding the 

 whole bog. AVhen this is done, the water should l)e drawn 

 off early in the morning, before the sun warms it, or the 

 fruit will l)e injured. 



A frost in spring injures the crop by destroying the top 

 buds of the upright shoots just before they burst open. As 

 we seldom have only slight frosts at this stage in the growth 

 of the plant, the water in the ditches will generally warm the 

 atmosphere sufficient to prevent a frost on the plants. 



In Massachusetts the fruit ought to be ripe enough to 

 begin harvesting from the 10th to the loth of September, 

 and if possil)le should be all gathered in by the 1st of 

 October. In picking the fruit, to secure good order and 

 clean picking the bog should be lined off with strong twine 

 drawn across from one cross ditch to another, about four 

 feet apart, and the pickers required to keep within the lines 

 assigned them. Six-quart pails are furnished the pickers, 

 who are paid, usually, ten cents for each pailful jiickcd, and 

 when brought in are either })aid the money or given a check 

 representing the price paid. These are redeemed every 

 nijxht or once a week. 



