EXPERIMENTAL WORK WITH CRANBERRIES. 41 



no case taken onto either the sprayed areas or their checks. The general 

 result of this spraj-ing is interesting in the light of the observations made 

 in connection with the Earl)'- Black and McFarlin plots in the late fall of 

 1912. At that time it was noticed that these plots seemed to have fohage 

 of a much lighter and more sickly appearance than was shown by the 

 vines of their checks. As noted in last year's report, this contrast was 

 very marked and led to the suspicion that, on account of the evidently 

 unthrifty condition of the spraj^ed areas, they would not, in the season 

 of 1913, produce as good a crop as their checks. The situation suggests 

 that there was not sufficient available plant food present for the sprayed 

 vines, while they were producing the 1912 crop, to maintain a strong 

 vine condition and at the same time develop the extra amount of fruit 

 which the reduction of fungous diseases, caused by the spraying, had made 

 possible. Whether this was the real cause for the decreased fruiting of 

 these plots, or whether the spraying had done the bog injury in some un- 

 known way, it is, as yet, impossible to state with certainty. It should be 

 noted in this connection that in the fall of 1913 the vines of all these plots 

 showed an even more marked unthrifty and sickly appearance in com- 

 parison with their checks than they did in the fall of 1912, though they 

 had not, as shown in the table, produced nearly as large crops as the 

 checks. The Howe plots (A and C), which did not show in 1912 any 

 marked effect on the vines, in the fall of 1913 were so red all over (except 

 the fertilized middle portion of plot A) as to give the impression, to one 

 viewing the bog from a distance, that the fireworm had been working 

 severely on them. This would seem to indicate that the spraying had in 

 some way caused a cumulative injury. 



On June 28, the middle half of plot A (one of the Howe plots) was fer- 

 tihzed, a quarter of the plot on each side being left without fertilizer, the 

 fertilizer being used on the middle portion at the following rate: nitrate 

 of soda, 200 pounds per acre; acid phosphate, 400 pounds per acre; high- 

 grade sulphate of potash, 200 pounds per acre. This fertilized middle half 

 (8 square rods) of the plot produced 5Vi2 bushels of berries, while the 

 unfertihzed side strips (the area of each being 4 square rods) produced, 

 respectively, IV12 bushels and 2 bushels. It will be seen from these 

 figures that there was a very marked increase of fruit on the middle 

 portion, due to the application of the fertilizer. This is particularly in- 

 teresting because, at the time when the fertihzer was applied, the vines 

 were going out of bloom, and there was no rain to speak of, to dissolve 

 the fertilizer and wash it into the soil, for several days after the appli- 

 cation. It is the first time in our experience that fertilizers have been 

 known to cause a marked increase in the amount of fruit on a cranberry 

 bog in the first season apphed. This is suggestive in several ways. It 

 looks as though vines which have borne a larger crop, due to freedom 

 from fungous disease brought about by spraying, need an extra supply of 

 plant food the following year in order to maintain their vigor and hold 

 their own in fruiting with unsprayed vines. The results of this fertihzing 



