CRANBERRIES. 107 



of gravel or coarse sand, after having ploughed the ground. 

 On those parts of his meadow treated in this manner, we 

 found the berries much smaller in size and the vines far less 

 productive than when the ground had only been ploughed and 

 smoothed, without any top-dressing having been put upon it. 

 From Mr. Stiles's experiments, as well as from our own ex- 

 perience in this business, we think that we may infer that the 

 natural soil of our meadows is best adapted to the growth of 

 the cranberry. No top-dressing has ever been put upon that 

 particular spot of meadow on which Mr. Stiles claims a pre- 

 mium. The ground was only ploughed and smoothed, and 

 the vines were set in the natural soil. No expense has since 

 been incurred upon it. 



On viewing this spot, we found the vines grown so rank as 

 almost to prevent the grass from springing up among them. 

 The crop upon these vines was abundant, the berries were of 

 an extraordinary size, ripe and beautiful, and of an excellent 

 quality. It was truly a fine sight to look upon. This was 

 perhaps the largest crop that has ever grown upon these 

 twenty square rods of ground, measuring twenty-three bush- 

 els, equal to one hundred and eighty-four bushels to the square 

 acre. 



Mr. Stiles has not always been able to keep his meadow 

 flowed in the winter season, and no doubt his crop may some- 

 times have failed on this account. Unless our meadows be 

 kept flowed during the freezing months, and drained during 

 the summer, we can have no certainty of a crop of cranberries ; 

 but if this be done, perhaps no crop of fruit is so sure as that 

 of the cranberry, unless some casualty happen to it, such as 

 early frosts or the ravages of the cranberry-worm, that some- 

 times destroys almost a whole crop. Any bog-meadow that 

 can be drained and flowed can be turned into a rich cranberry 

 field ; and there is much of this kind of land that can be made 

 to yield a large income with but a trifling expense. We think 

 well of Mr. Stiles's method of ploughing his meadow in pre- 

 paring it for the planting of the vinos ; there are many ad- 

 vantages resulting from it. But there are meadows that can- 

 not be ploughed ; on such, cranberries can be grown with 

 much profit without ploughing. We know of several such 

 meadows, one in particular, ou which so much as a peck of 



