HISTORY OF CULTIVATION. 23 



mit of no cultivation, except hand pulling the grass and 

 huckleberry bushes ; (weeds there were none). 



" No more vines were planted. From the two acres, we 

 picked (about Sept. 7th, 1853,) fourteen bushels of sound 

 fruit ; about seven bushels rotted on the vines within two 

 weeks previous to picking. Those picked were spread 

 out thinly upon floors, out of the reach of frost, and de- 

 cayed rapidly. I think the loss from decay in five months 

 from the time of picking, would amount to seventy-five 

 per cent ; while of the wild berries, picked about the same 

 time, and kept in the same manner, the loss from decay 

 was not more than one or two per cent. 



"Upon viewing the plantation in the latter part of August, 

 1854, 1 found the vines most luxuriant, matting completely 

 over the surface of the ground. There appeared then to 

 be about twenty-five or thirty bushels of sound fruit upon 

 them, not quite ripe enough for picking. These soon 

 commenced rotting, and when they were picked, about 

 the middle of September, I secured only about ten bushels 

 of sound fruit, which kept quite as badly as during the 

 previous winter. 



" Such has been my experience in the cultivation of the 

 cranberry ; and unless I can find a remedy for this rotting 

 of the berry, I must abandon the business as unprofitable. 



"If this can be avoided, there is an excellent opportu- 

 nity here to cultivate them extensively and profitably. 

 They begin to rot about the commencement of their 

 ripening or coloring, on the side touching the ground, 

 presenting the appearance of having been scalded. I 

 have thought it might be owing to the hot sun shining on 

 them after rain, scalding the part touching the earth. 

 Possibly, when the vines become thicker, shading the 

 ground more thoroughly, it may be corrected. If that is 

 the case, I will try a new plantation, setting out the 

 plants one foot apart each way." 



There was much truth in his supposed cause of the 



