CRANBERRY GROWING 25 



irrigation. Occasional light flooding for a few hours at night followed by com- 

 plete withdrawal of the water is sometimes done, but it is usually better to 

 hold the ditches partly full throughout the dr\ spells. Watering with a sprinkling 

 system, though costly, is effective for both irrigation and frost protection and 

 will be done more on cranberr^^ bogs. 



The Use of Sand 



As the cranberry roots form a dense growth in the sand over the peat, they 

 become soil bound, and resanding gives them jiiore soil to grow in. Largely on 

 this account, resanded vines are generally thriftier and more productive than 

 those not resanded. Moss and fallen cranberry leaves are poor conductors of 

 heat, and bogs not resanded regularly are commonly well co\ered with such 

 material and so very liable to frost injury. 



The oftener resanding is done the more it protects against frost, the girdler, 

 the green spanworm, and the tipworm; but bog conditions should determine its 

 frequency. Bogs with little water for reflooding should be resanded every other 

 >ear or every year lightly; those with plenty of water for frost and insect flood- 

 ing and with a moderate vine growth should be resanded every third or fourth 

 \ear; and those with ample water supplies and heavy vines never should be re- 

 sanded. From a quarter of an inch to an inch of sand, according to circumstances, 

 is put on at a time, being spread with square-pointed shovels. Experienced men 

 are needed for this job. 



Sanding may be done most cheaply in the winter (Fig. 19A) with fav^orable 

 weather, but there is not enough ice for this on the Cape in more than one year 

 in three. Considerable injury is done to the vines by resanding in the early spring 

 and it increases rapidly as the season advances; resanding should not continue 

 after May 5. Help is generally more plentiful in the fall and better attention 

 can be given this work then. Whenever it is done, it usually reduces the follow- 

 ing crop noticeably. The tops of the vines must be raked up out of the sand 

 wherever they get covered too much with it. Ice resanding is done mostly with 

 trucks; spring and fall resanding, with wheelbarrows (Fig. 19 B and C) or cars 

 (Fig. 13). The cost of properly applying a third of an inch of sand varies from 

 $30 to $70 an acre. 



All stones must be screened from the sand before it is used, or collected from 

 the bog afterward, else they will bruise the knees of pickers and be gathered with 

 the berries in scooping. Bog gang screens, 6 feet by 3 feet or larger, and individual 

 wheelbarrow screens are used for this, a three-quarter inch or inch mesh being 

 best. 



Pruning 



Vines often grow too thick and tall, especially on new bogs with a rich bottom 

 and a thin sand covering. The runners that float over the tops of the vines ffter 

 harvesting must be cut off carefully with a knife rake or pruner (Fig. 20 A and B). 

 Experienced men should do this work, for it is often very harmful when done 

 carelessh. No other cranberry pruning is ad\isable. The vines should be mowed 

 with a machine if they are so heavy that fruit production is much reduced. They 

 will be even and usually less rank when they grow again. Some burn oft heavily 

 vined bogs; but the burning may harm the roots, the vines are slow to come to 

 bearing again, and the bog is more exposed to weed growth. 



