WEATHER IN CRANBERRY CULTURE 27 



the same level throughout the winter. Outlet gates must therefore be kept clear 

 of ice, especially in a thaw or heavy rain. A special tool (Fig. 1) is handy here. 

 A good growth of well-anchored vines will hold two inches of ice down under the 

 water. 



Heavy ice encasing the vines sometimes breaks them off where it cracks, the 

 injur\- appearing in the spring as though a cleaver had severed the vines and 

 gashed the soil under them. 



Six pounds of small copper sulfate crystals to an acre scattered on bog ice just 

 before it breaks up in the spring prevents the development of algal scum in the 

 water after the ice is gone. This should not be used on bogs that drain through 

 trout ponds. 



Ice Sanding 



Sand is often spread on the ice of the winter flood in making new bogs in Wis- 

 consin. This Is not done elsewhere and would be a dubious practice in this State, 

 for cranberry cuttings are more easily planted and root better in loose sand than 

 in sand that has packed. Instead, if the bog has been made ready in the fall, the 

 sand may be placed in piles on the frozen ground and spread in the spring. 



Cranberry bogs in Massachusetts and Wisconsin are commonly resanded by 

 spreading the sand on the ice of the winter flood. When there is ice enough to 

 do this with trucks, the soil of the hills and sand holes from which the sand must 

 be taken is often frozen rather deep, making the work harder. Sand holes among 

 trees, especially- evergreens, or with southern exposure give much less trouble in 

 this way than those in the open or facing north. If the areas which are to supply 

 sand are covered well with straw, hay, cranberry rakings, or fallen leaves late in 

 the fall, the frost will not penetrate far into the ground. This mulch may be kept 

 from blowing away with a few sanding planks and a little sand. 



There is some danger in working in sand holes with deeply frozen surfaces, for 

 if the frozen soil overhangs, large chunks may break away and fall on anyone 

 below. This must be prevented by cutting down the overhang, as it forms, with 

 chisels and sledges, or better with dynamite if it is 18 to 30 inches thick as it 

 sometimes is in Middlesex, Norfolk, and Bristol counties. Gasoline shovels 

 handle overhangs up to a foot or more thick very easily. They also help to do the 

 sanding quickly and so take advantage of favorable weather. 



It takes seven to eight inches of sound ice to bear surely the trucks used in bog 

 sanding (Fig. 2). Thinner ice may let trucks through or break down under a 

 heavy sand cover and be carried to the bottom with it. The sand is likely to 

 come down finally onto the vines too thickly in the latter case. Sand spread on 

 the ice of a bog through which much water flows is sometimes largely washed 

 away downstream. Strong dry winds blowing persistently after fine sand is 

 spread on the ice may take most of it off. Also sand that has been spread on 

 clear, smooth ice in cloudy weather is sometimes rather badly drifted by wind. 

 Still worse drifting of the sand is caused occasionally by the wave action of water 

 over the ice from a heavy rain. 



Inclement weather often reduces greatly the chances to sand on ice, and favor- 

 able conditions should be made the most cf by doing the work rapidly Wiscon- 

 sin growers try to get all the work done within ten days after the first freeze-up, 

 often loading their sanding trucks with a dredge. Sand cannot be spread satis- 

 factorily on ice with much snow over it. Up to three inches of light snow is some- 

 times scraped off before sanding, and Wisconsin growers often roll a deep snow 

 cover down with a large roller. 



If there is little snow in or on the ice or sand, a sand cover soon works down into 

 and even through the ice because of its ready absorption of solar heat. The sand 



