82 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



which in many cases is most convenient, the earlier it is done 

 tlie better. Vines that are set in September become well estab- 

 lished before winter, and will throw out most vigorous runners 

 the next season. The vines should be selected in autumn, 

 while the fruit is on them. You may be certain, then, of 

 getting only fruitful vines. It is said that vines taken up in 

 autumn, and kept in a cellar till spring, have been planted with 

 good success. Cool and moist is the rule for keeping them. 

 But it is much less trouble, usually, and a much better way, to 

 take up the vines near the time of setting. 



Planting the Vines. — When plenty of vines are to be had near 

 by, and growing in a clean soil, masses of roots and earth, six 

 inches in width and one foot in length, may be taken up and set 

 in rows two feet apart and at eighteen inches distance, from sod 

 to sod, in the rows. Some prefer setting narrow strips, or cut- 

 tings of cranberry sod, quite close together, and in rows about 

 fifteen inches apart. Sods containing grass, weeds or moss 

 should never be planted on grounds that are to be cultivated. 

 The vine roots in such sods must be separated, and, after the 

 grass is removed, they may be set from six to ten inches apart, 

 along drills eighteen inches apart. This is the most common 

 mode, and the most suitable under various circumstances. Slips 

 of vines or cuttings, three or four inches long, are sometimes 

 used instead of rooted plants. These may be set closely in 

 drills, and sloping in one direction along the row, the lower 

 ends being covered about an inch deep, or more if the soil is not 

 quite moist. It is said that cuttings, five or six inches long, if 

 bent downwards in the middle and covered an inch deep with 

 soil, will root quickly and send shoots from each end. The 

 method is worth trying. Cranberry vines take root so readily 

 in favorable soils, that, if sown broadcast, and tramped or har- 

 rowed in, they will grow pretty well. But such methods cannot 

 be recommended where the best culture is to be given. 



Hoeing' and Weeding must be attended to, if the ground 

 requires it. These are difficult operations after the runners 

 spread over the surface and take root. They should be dis- 

 turbed as little as may be consistent with clean culture. A 

 man who has weeded cranberry vines two or three seasons, will 

 understand the importance of taking off a few inclies of the top 



