No. 4.] CRANBERRY GROWING. 265 



varieties. The Pride is the most prolific variety of cranberries 

 known to the writer, and it has fair table and keeping qualities 

 and is a rather handsome berry. Its vine growth, however, is 

 such that it will always be a difficult variety to pick with 

 scoops. 



The different varieties vary greatly in the time of ripening, 

 the earliest usually becoming well colored by the end of the 

 first week in September, and the latest by about the 1st of 

 October. Some berries color up fairly well in storage, while 

 others ^\ill not turn red very much unless they are left upon 

 the vines. Cranberries are first green, then almost white, then 

 pink, and finally red. There are some wild berries which are 

 milk white when ripe, and some of the varieties under cultiva- 

 tion, such as the Early Black, when completely ripe, are so 

 dark red that they are almost black. The berries of the differ- 

 ent varieties vary greatly in shape, some being pear shaped, 

 others elongate and pointed, and still others oval and round. 

 Other things being equal, the round berries are to be preferred, 

 for they are the most easily cleaned and are, therefore, most 

 cheaply prepared for market, and will, as a rule, be shipped in 

 the best condition. 



The Construction of a Bog. 

 Sanding. 

 The first operations in the preparation of a cranberry bog, 

 namely, the cleaning of the land of timber and brush, the 

 turfing, the ditching and the grading of the swamp, have al- 

 ready been discussed sufficiently for present purposes. After 

 these operations have been completed the swamp is ready for 

 sanding. In this there is a variety of practice. On Cape Cod, 

 where the sand is plentiful in banks adjoining the swamps, it 

 has always been carried on to the bogs by men with wheel- 

 barrows, over lines of planks. This is necessarily an expensive 

 process, and it seems probable that it will eventually be re- 

 placed by some method of pumping, as pumping would be 

 much cheaper and is already practiced as a means of handling 

 sand in other similar connections. In the Pacific northwest, 

 where the sand underlies the swamps and is not available in 

 quantity in banks close to the bogs, some growers have success- 



