CRANBERRY GROWING 7 



THE ESSENTIALS AND PREPARATION OF AN 

 IDEAL CRANBERRY BOG 



Land 



Cranberries in cultivation, as in the wild, do best on swamp land of muck or 

 peat. The depth of this soil need not be great, a few inches of peat or one layer 

 of turf over sand or clay often giving good results. It does not appear that any 

 peat is essential, tor vines grown on sand alone — so-called "hard bottom" — often 

 produce fair crops when fertilized. The soil must be acid. The plants found 

 growing most commonly on good cranberry soil are: sphagnum moss, wild cran- 

 berrv, leatherleaf ("brown brush") {Ghamaedaphne calyculata Moench.), sheep 

 laurel {Kalmia angnstifolia L.), red maple {Acer rubrum L.), and cedar (CAam- 

 aecyparis thyoides BSP.). 



Fresh meadow and freshened salt marsh sometimes are made into cranberry 

 bog without turfing, the grass being laid down and covered with about five 

 inches of sand and the vines set out without other preparation except grading 

 and ditching. Swales and pond bottoms may be used. Such bogs are built 

 cheaply and usually do well. Brush swamps (Fig. 4A) are preferable to wooded 

 ones, for it costs less to clear tht m. If timbered land is used, the tree stumps must 

 be pulled or dug out (Fig. 4B), and taken from the bog. Cranes equipped with 

 mats and clam-shells (Fig. 8B) are best for this on small and medium bogs, but 

 winches may be better on large areas. Dynamite is often used to blow out stub- 

 born stumps, but the filling of the holes made in soft land is costly. 



Location 



A cranberry bog should be on or near a stream large enough to flood it at any 

 time. If the stream is too small, its capacity for flooding must be increased by 

 making a reservoir above the bog 

 location. 



A water supply' for flooding as 

 much as may be necessary at an>- 

 time, especially for flooding b\- 

 gravity, adds greatly to the value 

 of a cranberry property. It is often 

 difificult and costly to arrange for 

 such a water supply in developing 

 a new bog. In this State there are 

 special laws favorable to cranberry- 

 growers in this connection. The 

 water of state ponds is often used, 

 under the direction of the Depart- 

 ment of Public Works. 



Many fine bogs are flooded by 

 pumping from streams or ponds at 

 lower levels, over a third of the acre- 

 age in this State being treated in this 

 way. The service of reservoirs is 

 often greatly extended by pumping 



the water used in flooding back into them again and again. Electric motors or 

 automobile engines are used in most bog pumping plants. The latter are gen- 

 erally preferable, for they are much cheaper to install and operate, are more 

 easily repaired, and are as reliable. Several makes of propeller and reversed- 



Fig. 5. A Common Bog Pump Installation. 



