3l6 IRRIGATION FARMING. 



of drainage ivS by open ditches. A brook or ditch in 

 most cases supplies a meadow with water, which runs 

 or is lead through. The water is dammed at the lower 

 end of the bog and allowed to back up, thus completely 

 covering it in a few hours. The usual time for flood- 

 ing is from the last of October to May, and eighteen to 

 twenty-four inches of water is sufficient. Where the 

 vine worm is destrudlive it is well to flood the ground 

 for twenty-four hours the latter part of June, and other 

 irrigations may be necessary throughout the summer 

 season. Weeds and marsh grass growing among the 

 plants are a great detriment and will soon run them 

 out. 



Harvesting time varies with growers in different 

 localities. Berries picked in August are bitter and will 

 not keep so long as those picked later. In order to 

 have the best cranberries, they should not be harvested 

 before the middle of September. Then they will keep 

 well into spring. Before the pickers take the field, 

 lines of twine are usually stretched across the bog so as 

 to make parallel rows about a yard wide. One picker 

 is assigned a place in each of these rows and must pick 

 the berries clean . Pickers seldom earn more than $3 . 00 

 a day by hand-picking, and one must work steadily 

 and rapidly to earn $2.00. Rakes are not liked by 

 many growers. After the picking is over the berries 

 are screened and sorted. This sorting may be done by 

 hand or by a separator. The latter saves time and 

 labor, but bruises many of the berries, injuring the 

 keeping qualities. The yield of a well-made bog 

 reaches 200 or more barrels to the acre. 



Capers. — These Asiatic shrubs are not grown much 



