288 



POPULAR FRUIT GROWING. 



Plants and planting.— In selecting plants great care should 

 be used to get them from fruitful beds, as some are almost 

 barren. There are very many named kinds, and they vary great- 

 ly in size, growth, time of ripening and productiveness, but it is 

 doubtful if any of the named kinds, the most of which ori- 

 ginated in the East, are adapted to the climate of this section, 

 and it is probably better for the present to depend on getting 

 plants from the most fruitful wild cultivated beds near at hand. 

 The kind most esteemed in the East is called the Early Black. 

 It is very early and productive, though not a vigorous grower. 

 Propagation. — The cranberry plant grows very readily from 

 cuttings, and on this account some growers cut the plants in 

 a hay cutter, sow the pieces broadcast and harrow them in with 

 a disc harrow, but that method of planting is not advisable. 

 The most common way is to make cuttings of the younger parts 

 of the vines about ten inches long, and plant one in a place, 



but sometimes longer cut- 

 tings are used which are 

 doubled when planted. 

 The cuttings may be car- 

 ried over a whole season 

 with good success if they 

 are kept covered with 

 running water, but in stag- 

 nant water they would be 

 likely to spoil. On this 

 account they may be set 

 at almost any season of the 

 year if the flowage is con- 

 trolled, but the spring of 

 the year is generally pre- 

 ferred, and if there is no 

 chance to flow at will it 

 is by far the surest time 

 to plant. 



Before planting is 

 commenced, the bed should be marked off each way 

 at about eighteen inch intervals. In planting, a 



Fig. 132. — The two kinds of cran 

 berry rakes In common use. 



