20 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 371 



The cost depends on the natural conditions and location of the swamp, 

 on the ability and experience of the man who oversees the work, and on 

 wages. A good bog, well located and built, planted with the right vari- 

 eties, and given good care, should be nearly permanent. There are bogs 

 on the Cape over eighty years old and still in good condition. To own 

 and properly manage a cranberry property requires a considerable invest- 

 ment and special experience which it takes years to acquire. 



CARE OF A NEWLY PLANTED BOG 



Water should be put on right after planting, iield near the surface a day 

 or so to wet the vines and pack the sand around them, and then drained 

 to the bottoms of the ditches. If the bog is flowed again the first season, 

 it should be only for a day or two to wet the sand or control insects. 



New bogs should be flooded for the winter as soon as the ground begins 

 to freeze, for frost in the soil heaves new sets out. The surplus water 

 must be let ofT at times of thaws or heavy rains in winter or early spring. 

 If this is neglected with the vines frozen into the ice, the raising of the 

 ice will pull them out of the ground. 



The first three years the winter flowage should be let ofi about May 5. 

 Earlier removal exposes the plants to possible frost heaving. 



Alore weeds grow on a bog the first two or three years than later, for 

 the vines have not grown enough to crowd them. They give relatively 

 little trouble afterward if they are kept down then. A grower should 

 know the weeds he has to figlit at this time, for it is enough to mow 

 the tops of some kinds (most rushes), and some (rice cut-grass) can be 

 checked by good drainage, while others must be rooted out or killed with 

 salt (ferns, brambles, hardback, leather leaf, and slieep laurel) or kerosene 

 (grasses and sedges). Upland weeds often appear on new plantings; 

 they need not be heeded, for they will die in the winter flood. 



After the first year and before it comes to bearing, the new planting 

 should be flooded several times each season to check insect pests. 



Constant roguing is necessary the first three years to remove plants 

 of odd varieties and hills witli false blossom. 



The new bog should be resanded with two thirds of an inch of sand 

 right after the first crop is gathered to make the vines develop a strong 

 root system and become well anchored. 



It costs $200 to $400 an acre to care for a new bog till it crops. 



CARE OF A BEARING BOG 



A new planting usually comes to bearing the fourth year, and its care 

 thereafter is described below. 



The Use of Water for Flooding 



Cranl)err\' vines often winterkill, sometimes to tiie ground, when ex- 

 posed for a week or more to drying winds with the soil around their roots 

 frozen. This is due to desiccation, the plants being unable under these 

 conditions to replace the water given off by the leaves. It usually occurs 

 before midwinter but may occur at any time from early December to late 

 March. Flooding for the winter is the best protection. 



The winter flowage should go on as soon as the sand surface remains 



