143 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



the thickening sap forms a new bark, 

 but during this period the returning sap 

 is by this means forced into fruit bud 

 development for the next year's crop. 

 When the new bark is formed the 

 tree carries on its natural process till the 

 end of the season. This has a tend- 

 ency to age the tree and throw it into 

 regular bearing. They are following 



this process from year to year, and the 

 highest authorities claim that they are 

 getting the best results. Although it 

 shortens the life of the tree, they get 

 their profits in a shorter time with much 

 less expense. It might be worthy of 

 trial to test this on a small scale in 

 these barren orchards, especially of Spy 

 apples. It might be well to girdle a 



branch or two before going any further. 

 Various causes bring occasional fail- 

 ures under good care but not continu- 

 ously with good bearing trees. Sufli- 

 cient attention is not given to proper 

 selection by the nurseryman when 

 propagating, and the grower when pur- 

 chasing must remember that the straight- 

 est tree may not be the most productive. 



A Glimpse at tKe Cranberry Situation' 



PREVIOUS to last season, the last 

 six or seven years have been full 

 of discouragements and disappoint- 

 ments to our cranberry growers, so 

 much so that very little eflfort has 

 been made during this period either 

 in the planting of new bogs, or keep- 

 ing in repair the old ones. How- 

 ever, those who were not wholly dis- 

 couraged were at the front last year 

 with a snug crop of berries of most ex- 

 cellent quahty. About 2,000 barrels 

 of this fruit were packed and put on the 

 market, where it met with a ready sale 

 for from five to six dollars a barrel. 



The failure of the vines to give a crop 

 began with the coming of the fire worm. 

 We were several years learning how to 

 handle this pest. By the time this 

 trouble was fairly under control we 

 experienced a succession of frosty sea- 

 sons, that either destroyed our prospect 

 of fruit by kilUng the buds just before 

 coming into flower, or chilUng the ber- 

 ries early in September before they had 

 attained a sufficient degree of hardness 

 to withstand the cold that later would 

 have helped to ripen them. 



In the fall of 1902 we had every 

 prospect of a good crop of berries up to 

 within about 10 days of picking, when 

 the sharp frost of September 6 nearly 

 ruined them, so instead of a crop of 

 3,000 barrels or more, scarcely 300 

 came to maturity. Almost the same 

 condition prevailed the following year. 



Since then we have discovered a 

 practical method of protecting the 

 crop from early fall frosts, by covering 

 lightly with coarse hay or straw. Hay 

 is preferable, it causing less litter. 

 About one and one-half tons to the 

 acre is suSicient. This covering can be 

 applied to the vines just before a frost 

 is expected and allowed to stay during 

 the remainder of the season. The 

 berries then will continue to grow and 

 ripen for three weeks or longer, thus 

 extending the time of picking, besides 

 giving a larger and much better quality 

 of fruit. This method was put in 

 practice by many of our growers last 

 season and was the means largely of 

 saving the crop. 



♦A paper read at the last Annual Convention 

 of the Nova Scotia Fruit Growers' Association. 



J. S. BisHop, Nova Scotia 



Another very important idea has 

 come to us of late in the way of gather- 

 ing the fruit. The principle was first 

 discovered by the Cape Cod cranberry 

 growers three or four years ago, and is 

 now in common use there. By the 

 means of a large scoop the berries can 

 be picked quickly, and at a cost of not 

 over 10 cents a bushel, whereas by the 

 old way of picking by hand the cost is 

 from one to one and a half cents a 

 quart. 



The vines are trimmed and fitted for 

 the picking the previous fall, with an 

 instrument something Uke a hand rake, 

 with sickle-shaped knives in place of 

 teeth. By drawing this in the same 

 direction all over the bog, the cross 

 laterals are cut, admitting the easy 

 working of the picker or scoop in the 

 same direction. This scoop, with its 

 long wooden teeth fixed side by side, 

 gathers the berries in a clean and satis- 

 factory way, and with most astonishing 

 rapidity. On a good, clean bog, where 

 there is a full crop of berries, a man can 

 gather 10 to 25 barrels a day. This 

 pruning of the bog is, also, of great 

 benefit in removing a part of the old 

 growth of vines and giving place to the 

 new. 



BOGS IN POOR CONDITION 



Not one-third of our cranberry bogs 

 are in anything Hke proper condition 

 for giving a crop of berries. Bushes, 

 grass, weeds, and shrubbery are to be seen 

 on nearly all of them, and only occasion- 

 ally a bog can be found that does not 

 need a coat of sand. About half an 

 inch of sand every two or three years 

 is necessary to keep the bog in good 

 bearing condition. A bog that is pro- 

 perly sanded rarely suffers from fall 

 frosts, as the sand retains the heat 

 of the sun, causing the vines to bloom 

 earlier and maturing the fruit more 

 rapidly than when no sand has been 

 apphed. 



The old idea that you cannot have 

 land too poor for cranberry culture has 

 given way long since to the more reason- 

 able view, that a crop of fruit of any kind 

 cannot be expected from land year after 

 year without giving the trees or plants 

 something on which to feed. It is a 

 thoroughly demonstrated fact that a 



bearing bog is greatly benefited by a 

 yearly application of any of the com- 

 mercial fertilizers that are used for 

 raising p>otatoes. This fertiUzer can be 

 applied to the best advantage early in 

 June. It should be sown broadcast 

 when the vines are dry, using about 500 

 pounds per acre. 



The question has been raised of late 

 whether or not we were making a 

 mistake in attempting to grow cran- 

 berries in Nova Scotia. In face of 

 frosts and insect pests it has been asked 

 if it would not be more profitable to 

 turn our attention to something that 

 would give a more sure return. May 

 I ask what will give a more sure return ? 

 There are apple orchards along the 

 centre of this valley that for the past 

 three or four years, on account of frosts, 

 have been as unproductive as the 

 cranberry bogs. 



We are slowly waking up to the fact 

 that our bogs need a little care year 

 after year, just as surely as our orchards 

 do; and that a httle intelligent atten- 

 tion will give about as good residts on a 

 bog as it will in an orchard. 



In view of the increasing demand for 

 this fruit and the prevailing high prices, 

 our neighbors over the line are preparing 

 to plant larger acreage to cranberries 

 this year. It is also time we opened our 

 eyes to the fact that all over the Cana- 

 dian North-West there are cities spring- 

 ing up that will call for a supply of 

 cranberries. Last fall we had orders 

 from Winnipeg for several carloads that 

 we could not fill because we had not the 

 fruit. There are still problems to work 

 out and much to learn regarding this 

 industry. 



Every cranberry growing country 

 known is subject to frost. Insect pests 

 are no worse with us than they are in 

 other places. We have the land to 

 grow the fruit and the market within 

 our own Dominion. If the culture of 

 this fruit has brought $10,000 into the 

 pockets of our people this season alone, 

 shall we pull up the vines and call a 

 halt? 



Growers should ascertain what crops 

 their soil is especially adapted to, and 

 then make a specialty of those crops. — 

 H. E. Reid, Toronto. 



