128 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



Mr. Ware. Then I understand the crop is dependent for 

 its food upon the roots that go down below the sand ? 



Mr. Stockwell. I did not intend to have it so under- 

 stood, because I said the peculiarity of the cranberry is that 

 most of its life is drawn from the air and water. 



Mr. Ware. Then the point I want to get at is, is there 

 any advantage in a rich bog under the soil over any other, 

 for instance, a gravelly subsoil, or any subsoil that might be 

 under the sand ? 



Mr. Stockwell. I thinlc there is an advantage, the 

 advantage that we find in every crop that is raised upon rich 

 land — a difference in flavor. There is just as much differ- 

 ence in the flavor of the cranberry as there is in the flavor of 

 the apple ; and yet very few people know it. Now let me 

 illustrate : At a meeting of the Union Agricultural Society 

 in our town we had two distinguished speakers present, 

 whom you all know, who have attended these meetings very 

 frequently, and upon the table was cranberry sauce. They 

 at once remarked upon the peculiar flavor and character of 

 the sauce ; they never had tasted any like it ; they were not 

 particularly inclined toward cranberry sauce ; but from that 

 time to this each one of those speakers has had a barrel of 

 cranberries from the inland bogs, and takes no other. 



Mr. CusHMAN of Lakeville. In continuation of this thought 

 I would like to make inquiry. I notice in many bogs of the 

 Cape they commence at the shore and dig back on a level 

 plane, carrying the sand upon the bog. Some utilize this 

 land where they have dug, and others do not. Now, I would 

 like to inquire of the essayist whether he would set vines 

 upon that sandy soil that has no mud underneath ? 



Mr. Stockwell. I certainly should, because you would 

 receive fruit from it ; but upon such ground it would be 

 necessary to find some fertilizer, while upon other land it 

 will not. 



Mr. CusHMAN. This would be flooded, you understand, 

 the same as the bog. 



Mr. Stockwell. Certainly you will obtain a crop ; but 

 you will need to use some strong fertilizers, I think, for good 

 fruit. 



Mr. Edson of Barnstable. I reside in a cranberry-grow- 



