109 



Let it not be understood than the cranberry does not suc- 

 ceed only on land that can be overflowed. Very successful 

 experiments in cranberry culture have been made on land 

 which is never flowed, but which is dry enough for the 

 plough at almost any season of the year. It will grow on 

 almost any soil, sometimes flourishes where the soil seems 

 entirely free from any matter, either animal or vegetable. 

 This berry may be said to live entirely on air and water. 



Because peat, which supplies the natural food of the 

 cranberry plant and in which it grows spontaneously, is 

 usually saturated with water, it is sometimes inferred that 

 this is a sort of half and half water plant, which will 

 thrive only where water greatly abounds. 



This is a mistake. Cranberries can be successfully 

 grown in any soil, however elevated, in which mould, from 

 woody or vegetable fibre, largely predominates, and in a 

 suitable soil the danger of injury from drought is not 

 greater than in the case of other cultivated plants. 



Cranberry meadows are prepared by removing the turf 

 to such a depth that neither grass nor bushes will start 

 from the roots, and setting the vines either in the pure peat 

 or in a surface covering of sand or gravel to the depth of 

 from two to four inches, but not so deep as to prevent the 

 roots of the vines from taking hold of the peat, from which 

 it takes its life and vigor. The former method is preferred 

 by some for the reason that the grasses, which will take 

 root in the peat after cultivation becomes impracticable, are 

 much less formidable enemies to the vines than the rushes 

 and other wiry plants that invariably gain a foothold in 

 sanded or gravelled meadows. It has been the experience 

 of some that sand and gravel check rather than promote 

 the growth of the vines, and that they are useful only as 

 they facilitate the process of clea:: cultivation, while the 

 vines are acquiring complete possession of the soil. 



But whatever opinions exist in regard to the use of sand 

 or gravel, no one would think of reclaiming a meadow for 

 the culture of the cranberry without its use. For trans- 



