No. 9. 



The Cranberry. 



285 



The sulphate so formed is not volatile. In- 

 stead of oil of vitriol, gypsum might be 

 used. Along with the sulphate of ammonia, 

 other ingredients of considerable value as 

 manures'are obtained. By economising well 

 the means within our reach, we become, in 

 a measure, independent of the "manure ven- 

 ders." We have opportunities of noticing 

 the uses to which the urine of animals may 

 be applied, but we cannot here overlook the 

 extreme slovenliness and inattention which 

 are almost universally displayed in the farm 

 yards around us. Every one extols, and 

 justly so, the manure of the farm yard ; yet 

 how many of those who so loudly boast of 

 its superiority to artificial manures, attempt 

 to manage their dunghills as they ought to 

 do? "Far-fetched and dear-bought," as some 

 of our manures are, the farmer continues to 

 buy, whilst he daily witnesses under his 

 own nose the loss of most valuable manure. 

 Ammonia is constantly rising from the stalls 

 and dung heaps, which might be fixed by 

 oil of vitriol or gypsum. The urine is 

 allowed to run anywhere but into reservoirs 

 or tanks — very often into a corner of his 

 yard, which in wet weather serve as a duck 

 pond; or it is swept to the door of the stable 

 or cow house, where, by being exposed to 

 the air, it is soon dried up; how melancholy 

 a fact it is that these gross negligences 

 prevail so extensively — almost universally! 

 There are worthy exceptions, it is true, and 

 it is from these more enterprising farmers 

 that we expect those improvements which 

 agriculture stands so much in need of. Let 

 them not confine their knowledge to their 

 own farmsteads, but give the results of their 

 experience to the world. — J. H. Shepherd's 

 second edition of Hints to Landlords and 

 Tenants. 



The Cranberry. 



This delicious fruit is coming into such 

 general use, and is becoming so important 

 an article of export, and so much interest is 

 now taken in its cultivation, that I propose 

 giving a concise accounl of the same, and 

 its general history. 



The common American cranberry {oxy- 

 coccus vmcrocarpiis) is found growing in a 

 wild state in swampy soils, in the eastern, 

 middle, and western States. The first ac- 

 count we have of the cultivation of this 

 fruit, is by the late Sir Joseph Banks, who 

 produced from a bed eighteen feet square, 

 three and a half Winchester bushels; being 

 at the rate of 460 bushels to the acre. Cap- 

 tain Henry Hall, of Barnstable, Mass., has 

 cultivated this fruit for the last twenty 

 years. His method is to spread on his 



swampy ground a quantity of sand — this is 

 to kill the grass; but where sand is not at 

 hand, gravel will answer the same purpose. 

 He then digs holes four feet apart, each way, 

 and puts in the holes sods of cranberry plants 

 about one foot square. 



As this plant naturally grows in a very 

 wet soil, it is generally supposed it will not 

 thrive in a dry soil ; but this idea is errone- 

 ous. Mr. Sullivan Bates, of Billingham, 

 Mass., has cultivated the cranberry on a 

 dry soil for several years, with the utmost 

 success — having produced 300 bushels to 

 the acre on several acres, and his fruit dou- 

 ble the usual size. His method is to plough 

 the land — spread on a quantity of swamp- 

 muck, and after harrowing the soil thorough- 

 ly, set out the plants in drills twenty inchea 

 apart — hoeing them the first season. After 

 this, no cultivation is needed. By both the 

 above methods, the plants will cover the 

 ground in three years. 



From my own knowledge of the cran- 

 berry tor the last thirty years, should I de- 

 sign commencing the cultivation of this 

 fruit on an extensive scale, I would try it 

 on both swampy and dry soils. I would 

 drain the swampy soil, plough it as early as 

 possible in the spring, and set out the plants 

 on the plan of Mr. Bates. 



To show the rapidity with which cran- 

 berry plants increase, I will add this state- 

 ment from an English book on fruits: "An 

 English gentleman had only a few plants, 

 these he cut in small pieces or cuttings, and 

 set them out in a green-house. In the spring 

 he prepared some swampy ground by spading 

 it 12 inches deep. In a bed 150 feet long, 

 and four feet wide, he set out 75 cuttings in 

 one drill through the length of the bed, put- 

 ting the cuttings two feet apart in the drill, 

 and yet in three years the plants completely 

 covered the ground." 



In Massachusetts the cranberry crop is 

 once in a few years cut off" by the late 

 spring frosts. This may be prevented 

 where a meadow is so situated as to be 

 flowed. The water should not be over one 

 or two inches deep on the cranberries, nor 

 be left on later than the last of May, in this 

 climate. If kept on till it becomes warm, 

 it will kill the vines. Perhaps the best 

 management would be something as they 

 flood "the rice-fields at the south, or water 

 meadows in England— let the water on 

 while the weather is coldest, and then take 

 it off" as it moderates. Sometimes, in the 

 eastern States, the cranberries are destroyed 

 by a frost in September; where water is 

 convenient and plenty, the meadow should 

 be flowed on cold nights at this season, as 

 well as in the spring. 



