THE CRANBERRY. 



61 



first of June. The object of keeping it on so late is to prevent in- 

 jury from late frosts, and to destroy the fruit worm and fire worm, 

 which are the worst foes of the cranberry. If the fruit is covered 

 with water in warm weather it is very liable to be ruined, but the 

 vines are uninjured by such ilowage. Throughout the growing 

 season the water should be about twelve inches below the surface 

 of the bed. 



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 greatly in size, 

 growth, time of ripening and pro- 

 ductiveness, but it is doubtful if any 

 of the named kinds, the most of 

 which have originated in the East, 

 are adapted to the climate of this 

 section, and it is probably bet'er for 

 the present to depend on getting 

 plants from the most fruitful wild 

 cultivated beds near at hand. The 

 kind most esteemed at the East is 

 called the Early Black. It is very 

 early and productive, though not a 

 vigorous grower. 



The cranberry plant grows very 

 readily from cuttings, and on this ac- 

 count slovenly growers sometimes 

 cut the plants in a hay cutter, sow 

 the pieces broadcast and harrow 

 them in, 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 three or four 

 together, as shown in Fig. 43, but 

 sometimes longer cuttings are used 

 which are doubled when planted. 

 The cuttings may be carried over a 

 whole season with good success, if 

 they are kept covered with running water, but in stagnant 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 controlled, but the 

 spring of the year is generally preferred, 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 eighteen inch intervals. In planting, a wooden dibber 

 is used having an incurved or reversed wedge-shaped point, with 

 which the cuttings are crowded through the sand down into con- 

 tact with the bog beneath at one operation, without first making 

 a hole as is customary in the ordinary use of a dibber. After the 



Fig. 43 —Showing method of 

 ■planting cranberry cuttings. 



