THE GENESEE FAEMER 



141 



seea that the roughest and most uncompromising 

 swamps may be reclaimed and set with cranberries at 

 about half that amount. If the soil be a rich loam, 

 as in the case above mentioned, the grass and weeds 

 struggle very hard for the mastery, while on the poor 

 and barren sand they hardly grow at all, if the ground 

 has been properly prepared in the first instance ; so 

 that the labor of cultivation is but very little at most, 

 and many think that no care at all is needed. Thus, 

 there seems to be much truth in the remark which I 

 have often heard on this subject : ' Grive us sand and 

 water enough, and we can grow cranberries to any 

 extent' So far as my own observation extends, the 

 fruit grown on pure white sand is quite equal in point 

 of size and firmness to that gi'own on upland. More 

 experiments may, however, show further advantages 

 in its extended culture on upland. 



" It should be remarked that it will be well to spend 

 BufBcient time in planting the vines to do it properly, 

 since they will thus get an earlier start, and sooner 

 cover the gi-ound. In the case of one jilantation, 

 visited during the process of transplanting, after the 

 sand had b<3en filled in and leveled, a line was carefully 

 drawn and marks were made in the sand, eighteen 

 inches one way and one foot the other, when holes 

 were dug three inches deep by one man mth a hoe, 

 while others followed, dropping five or six roots into 

 each hole, and after him followed a boy who pressed 

 the sand carefully about them. In this way an acre 

 was quickly planted. 



" No manure is needed for the cranberry. Indeed, 

 Ci*om what has been said, it will be evident that the 

 poorer the ground the better. In the experiments 

 which have come under my observation, where manure 

 was used, it caused the coarse grass to grow abun- 

 dantly, to the injury of the cranberry plants, which 

 were not apparently benefitted by the manure. But 

 in cases of upland culture, swamp muck is often used 

 about the ^ines with apparent profit 



" In the case of nnes growing naturally, it will be 

 found advantageous to spread over them occasionally 

 > a thin covering of sand. 



' " Time of Planting. — If the cranberry is to be 

 raised from seed, it may be so-mi in the fall or in the 

 roring. For some reasons the latter is prefen-ed, and 

 the mouth of May is selected. It is better to crush 

 the fruit and separate the seed from the pulp, though 

 the latter is not necessary. The beriw is sometimes 

 crushed and mixed with sand, by which means the 

 sowing is made more easy. 



" If the plants are to be propagated by cuttings, 

 tiie spring is considered as preferable. The ground 

 should be moist, but not liable to be flowed immedi- 

 ately after planting. 



" But for the usual mode of transplanting the vines, 

 tiie fall is generally preferred, though there seems to 

 be no difficulty in making them live when transplanted 

 at any season of the year. I have known them 

 transplanted in the middle of summer, and to live 

 and do well But if the planting be done in the fall, 

 they take root in the spring and grow more vigor- 

 ously the first year than they otherwise would. For 

 this reason, if the ground can be made ready in the 

 fall, it is desirable to have the vines set out then, and 

 they will thus ordinarily have the start of those planted 

 the following spring, by two or three months. If 



planted in the autumn, they will also bear a little the 

 next summer, and the crop will increase gradually till 

 the fourth or fifth year, when it seems to attain its 

 highest yield. Circumstances may make some differ- 

 ence in the length of time which must pass before a 

 full crop is obtained, as if the vines are nmch choked 

 up by grass, and retarded in their gi-owth by want of 

 care. The statement made above, both as to the 

 time ordinarily required, and aa to the eflect of the 

 unfavorable circumstances alluded to, is confirmed by 

 the experience of many who have been engaged in 

 the cultivation of cranberries long enough to have 

 had opportunities of extended observation on the 

 sul)ject Tliere seems to be no reason why the crop 

 should diminish after the fifth year, nor is it certain 

 that it will, as a general rule ; yet it is evident that i^ 

 at this age, the thrifty and healthy vines have covered 

 the whole ground, they will be likely to bear to their 

 utmost capacity. Probably, after the seventh or 

 eighth year, it will be found to be well to rake or stir 

 the surface under the vines so far as it can be done, 

 or perhaps to spread over them a thin covering of 

 sand or loam. 



" The Yield. — ^The yield will vary according to cir- 

 cumstances, but about one hundred and fifty bushels 

 per acre will be a fair average ; though an acre in full 

 bearing will often produce more than two hundred 

 bushels. In a very large number of cases, a bushel 

 to the square rod has been gathered without much 

 trouble of cultivation. In one lot visited by me, more 

 than three bushels to a rod, or at the rate of four 

 hundred and eighty bushels to the acre, on two or 

 three rods, were obtained from vers' thrifty vines on a 

 peat bottom, with a thin covering of sand. This must 

 be regarded as a remarkable yield ; and when the 

 quality of the fruit is such as to command a ready 

 sale at from nine to eleven dollars a baiTel, which waa 

 offered for them the past season, this crop must be 

 acknowledged to be very profitable. 



"Loudon remarks that Sir Joseph Banks, after 

 having imported the American cranberry into Eng- 

 land, raised, in 1831, three and a half bushels on a 

 piece of land eighteen feet square. This is at the rate 

 of about four hundred and sixty bushels to the acre. 



" It is probable, that for several years in succession, 

 the average yield throughout the State would not be 

 more than a hundred bushels per acre, if it were so 

 great ; being some years much more than that, and 

 others much less, the number of bushels varying ac- 

 cording to the accidents of frosts and vriuter. 



'• The market value of this fruit will also be different 

 in different seasons. In 1852, four dollars a bushel 

 for cultivated cranberries were very readily obtained. 

 During the past season, the price has ranged from two 

 to four dollars a bushel, according to the quality; 

 raising and falling, also, to some extent, according to 

 the demand and the supply in the market. 



" The demand is rapidly increasing, and there can 

 be little doubt that it will continue to increase as the 

 superior quality of the cranberry, in some sections of 

 this State, becomes better known. And if, owing to 

 any circumstances, as competition from abroad, the 

 value should fall to one dollar per bushel, it would 

 still be a profitable and desirable product, especiallj 

 when it is left to occupy its fa\'orite barren and other- 

 wise unproductive swamps and dead sands." 



