810 



NEW ENGLAND FAE^IER. 



July 



For the New England Farmer. 



KEPI.T TO QUESTIONS ABOUT CKAN- 

 BEBKIES. 



The communication on "The Cultivation of 

 Cranberries," which was published under my 

 name in the Farmer a few months since, has 

 flooded me with letters of inquiry from nearly 

 every section of the country. When I penned 

 the article I was not aware that the circulation 

 of the Farmer extended over so wide a field, 

 nor did I suppose that the interest in the cul- 

 tivation of cranberries was so deep and wide 

 spread, as the large package of letters before 

 me convinces me it is. 



I have no doubt that some of thcFc corres- 

 pondents are disappointed in not receiving 

 immediate answers to the numerous questions 

 which they have asked ; all of them, I pre- 

 sume, supposing theirs to be the only letter of 

 inquiry sent to me, and that it would be no 

 great task to answer it. Finding it would in- 

 terrupt my private business too much to write 

 answers to each letter, I laid them aside, think- 

 ing when they were all in I would answer 

 them in one communication through the col- 

 umns of the Farmer, bui they still continue 

 to come ; in fact, there seems to be no end to 

 them ; for before those from new correspon- 

 dents are all in, the men who wrote first are 

 now sending their second letters, having good 

 reason to suppose that their first did not reach 

 me. 



The season for transplanting being at hand, 

 and believing that I have many more ques- 

 tions in the letters already received than I 

 can answer in one communication, 1 improve 

 a few moments to dispose of them. ISi early 

 every correspondent describes to me a piece 

 of land which he owns, and desires to know 

 if I think it suitable for producing good crops 

 of cranberries. In reply to this question I 

 would say to correspondents of Minnesota, 

 and other Western States, thit I know prac- 

 tically nothing of your soil or climate, and I 

 may say the same to the correspondent of 

 North Carolina and those of other Southern 

 States. To those of Maine, Vermont, New 

 Hampshire, Connecticut, and of this State, it 

 is useless for me to advise you what business 

 it is best for }Ou to engage in, without know- 

 ing anything of the circumstances which sur- 

 round you. 



I think, however, I may venture to advise 

 you all, who have a piece of land such as 1 

 described in my former cooimunication, to try 

 a few rods of it with cranberries, s.nd then 

 you will know by practical experience whether 

 it is best to enter largely into the business or 

 not. This knowledge would be worth lo you 

 more than all the communii alions whirh 1 

 could write during the time you were making 

 the practical test. 



Nearly every correspondent desires to know 

 where he can get good vines and at what 

 price. I very much regret that 1 am unable 



to answer this question. I have two varieties 

 one of medium size, h'gh color, keeps until 

 August, but rarely produces more tlian two 

 bushels to the rod ; the other is very large, 

 colors late in the autumn after harve>ting, 

 keeps well and sometimes produces from three 

 to four bushels to the rod. I have none which 

 I wish to dispose of, or perhaps I might more 

 truthfully say I could not attend to the pack- 

 ing of the vines for transportation, without 

 drawing my attention away from a business 

 which at present requires all my time as well 

 as attention. Those who have cranberries in 

 their vicinity had better examine them and 

 select those which are known to be productive. 



The vines in good locations will produce a 

 fair crop the third year after transplanting, if 

 the land is not too rich, and is covered with 

 six inches or more of sand. They will con- 

 tinue to produce fair crops ten or twelve years. 

 It is then usually necessary to reset the vines. 

 Such plantations as have come under my ob- 

 servation have ceased to produce large crops 

 where the vines cover the ground so thick that 

 the new horizontal runners are so far from the 

 soil as to prevent them from sending out roots 

 which seem to be necessary to support the 

 short perpendicular shoots on which the fr ait 

 is produced. 



My knowledge in this business is derived 

 from a variety of experiments tried on a small 

 scale, a large part of which were conducted 

 by my father. I have seen him grow cran- 

 berries of excellent quality on hills composed 

 of sandy loam, but not prolitably, nor did he 

 find it profitable to cultivate them on springy 

 land with clay bot'om. It is only on such 

 land as I described in my former article tbalf 

 we have found it profitable. In conclusion I 

 would say to every one who has land which he 

 thinks is adapted to the growth of this excel- 

 lent fruit, try a few rods, and if succt ssf il en- 

 large each year until your land is covered. 



E. Hersey. 



Hingliam, Mass., April 24, 1869. 



For the New England Farmer. 



MOTHS. 



Can you or any of your readers tell how tc 

 destroy moths, ifyou can you will oblige! a con- 

 stant reader. k. f. 



Jacksonville, Vt., 18G9. 



Will you give us tlje b;ibits of the moth, and the 

 time when vve should pvotect (jur I'urs ai-d woolen 

 good^ from their it prc-daiioiis ? Mks. D. A. S. 



Schoolcraft, Michigan, 18G9. 



RemakivS. — In reply to the above we copy 

 the following from Prof. Harris' Treatise on 

 Insects : — 



The various kinds of destructive moths, 

 foiuid in houses, stores, barns, granaries, and 

 mills, sa}s IMr. Harris, are mosily very tmal! 

 in^ects ; the lar;:!est of them, whin ariived at 

 maturity, expanding their wuigs only about 



