256 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



profitable cultivation of the cranberry, for the reason of its 

 being the natural soil — that wherein nature placed it ; and as 

 nature rarely errs, it has been taken for granted that it was 

 not misplaced. 



In the fall of 1847, I noticed that the cranberries on a cer- 

 tain low, swampy soil, were much benefited by the sand washed 

 from an adjoining hill. In size, the berries were larger, and 

 the yield there was more abundant, compared with the product 

 of the vines further in the swamp, where the sand had not 

 reached. This led me to the determination to ascertain how 

 far the cultivation of the cranberry on a sandy loam might 

 profitably be carried. Accordingly, in November, 1848, I com- 

 menced setting out about an acre of land to cranberry vines. 



The piece of land in question, had a gentle slope to the west ; 

 the upper portion was very light and porous, and so poor that 

 it had, in previous years, been considered hardly worthy of 

 cultivation. The middle part, comprising one-third of the 

 piece, was good, light, loamy soil, not liable to bake, or suffer 

 from drought. The third portion of the lower part was strong 

 loam, inclined to moisture, and may be termed good grass 

 land. Thus, this acre of land embraced soils of three different 

 textures, and was purposely chosen to notice the effect of soil 

 on the vines. The way of planting was as follows : The land 

 was ploughed eight inches deep and harrowed ; light furrows, 

 three and a half feet apart, were then run lengthwise ; cran- 

 berry sods, of the Bell variety, were cut eight to ten inches 

 square, witli a sharp spade, wheeled out of the swamp, carted 

 on the upland, and deposited in the furrows three feet apart, 

 although two feet would have been better, so that the sods, as 

 placed in the furrows, were three and a half by three feet 

 apart. Clean cultivation was, for the next two years, carried 

 on by the cultivator and the hoe. The third year, the vines 

 had commenced extending themselves in all directions, and at 

 the end of the season had, in many places, nearly covered the 

 ground. Runners, from three to four feet in length, were 

 thrown out with great luxuriance, rendering the cultivator and 

 hoe of no further use in keeping down the grass and weeds. 

 Fingering (cleaning by hand) an acre of cranberries was now 

 out of the question, so that weeds, grass, and cranberries were 



