266 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



fully followed the practice of pumping up the sand in the water 

 from the bottom with a centrifugal pump, and sending it 

 through long lines of piping to the place where it was to be 

 used. They have pumped sand in some cases for over a mile 

 in this way, the cost of sanding by this method being less than 

 $30 an acre. In former years, those who built bogs on the 

 Cape considered it necessary to put on 5 or 6 inches of sand 

 before planting, and this practice still prevails with many 

 growers to-day. Those of largest experience, however, appear 

 to have generally adopted the idea of sanding more lightly 

 before planting, and they, as a rule, now put on only from 2 

 to 3 inches of sand. With this smaller amount, the vine growth 

 is distinctly more rapid after planting, the bog becoming more 

 quickly vined over and consequently reaching full bearing 

 sooner. If this practice is followed, the bog should be resanded 

 with from a quarter to a third of an inch of sand every year 

 for the first three or four years after planting. By this method 

 of procedure, however, a firmer and more deep-set root system 

 will be obtained, and the bog will be kept in the best condition 

 possible for scooping. 



The sand serves several purposes: it helps to keep down 

 weeds and moss; it fastens down the runners and enables them 

 to root better; it gives the roots a medium to grow in which is 

 capable of far better drainage and aeration than is peat, and 

 thus promotes their greater development; it takes in more heat 

 during the day than peat, and radiates it at night so as to 

 afford a considerable protection from frost; it is a considerable 

 aid in controlling some injurious insect pests. As the roots 

 come to form a very dense growth in the sand over the j^eat, 

 they may be said to become soil bound from time to time, and 

 resanding gives them more soil to develop in. It has the dis- 

 advantage, however, of promoting fungous disease development 

 more or less. It is, undoubtedly, for this reason that berries 

 frequently rot badly on the vines in new plantings on the Cape. 

 Berries from new plantings are generally considered weak and 

 unfit for long shipments. Experience appears to have shown 

 the New Jersey growers that in their climate most bogs cannot 

 be sanded without danger of disastrous trouble from fungous 

 diseases. On the Cape, however, if new bogs are badly diseased 



