124 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



carries them down into the hole, being careful to leave the 

 vines perfectly straight down in the ground, the tops being 

 two inches above the level sand. These will quickly send 

 out shoots and runners. In our inland meadows, — and it 

 is for these I am giving these details, — the hills should not 

 be less than eighteen inches apart each way, to assure the 

 best results. 



Thorough, careful culture, removing every root of weed 

 or grass, is absolutely essential during the first and second 

 years of growth, while the third .year should give a fair crop 

 of first-class berries. 



One hundred and fifty bushels is a fair and average yield 

 per acre, though a yield of from two hundred and fifty to 

 three hundred and fifty bushels is not uncommon on our 

 meadows. 



Having our meadow thus planted and growing, what hin- 

 ders it from being a continuous source of profit to the owner? 

 It seems to be a fiict that no crop of any value to the pro- 

 ducer has yet been discovered that has not its insect pests, 

 its dangers and its drawbacks, — and the cranberry is surely 

 far from being an exception. The first point I will mention 

 is the danger of variation of temperature. The bog is a 

 source of constant anxiety from the day the water is drawn 

 otf (May 10 to 15) till the last berry is picked. 



The water being drawn ofi", if conditions are favorable. 

 May 15, the danger from the light frosts is not safely 

 passed until June 10, and the susceptible, tender shoots 

 containing the blossom buds must be carefully guarded, or 

 the loss of the crop will be inevitable thus early in the sea- 

 son, for these fruit buds form in the fall and appear with 

 the first signs of life in the spring. Then the frosts in the 

 fall must be carefully guarded against. I do not think it 

 safe for the owner of an inland bog to be off duty after Au- 

 gust 15, though it is very seldom that the frosts to injure 

 a sanded bog come before the 25th of August. The past 

 season,, the frost of September 6, so severe as to aflect the 

 Cape and Jersey even, proves the need of a full supply of 

 water, and that the cranberry grower must be constantly on 

 the watch to save his crop. The green berries are very sus- 

 ceptible to frost, growing more hardy as the fruit matures. 



