179 



ed with good success. Cool and moist is the rule for keeping 

 them. But it is much less trouble, usually, and a much better 

 way to take up the vines near the time of setting. 



PLANTIJfG THE VINES. 



When plenty of vines are to be had near by, and growing 

 iu a clean soil, masses of roots and earth, six inches in width 

 and one foot in length, may be taken up and set in rows two 

 feet apart and at eighteen inches distance, from sod to sod, in 

 the rows. Some prefer setting narrow strips, or cuttings of 

 cranberry sod, quite close together, and in rows about fifteen 

 inches apart. Sods containing grass weeds or moss should 

 never be planted on grounds that are to be cultivated. The 

 vine roots in such sods must be separated, and, after the grass 

 is removed, they may be set from six to ten inches apart along 

 drills eighteen inches apart. This is the most common mode, 

 and the most suitable under various circumstances. Slips of 

 vines or cuttings, three or four inches long, are sometimes used 

 instead of rooted plants. These may be set closely in drills, 

 and sloping in one direction along the row, the lower ends 

 being covered about an inch deep, or more if the soil is not 

 quite moist. It is said that cuttings, five or six inches long, if 

 bent downwards in the middle and covered an inch deep with 

 soil, will root quickly and send shoots from each end. The 

 method is worth trying. Cranberry vines take root so readily 

 in favorable soils, that, if sown broadcast, and tramped or har- 

 rowed in, they will grow pretty well. But such methods can- 

 not be recommended where the best culture is to be given. 



HOEING AND WEEDING 



Must be attended to, if the ground requires it. These are 

 difficult operations after the runners spread over the surface and 

 take root. They should be disturbed as little as may be con- 

 sistent with clean culture. A man who has weeded cranberry 

 vines two or three seasons, will understand the importance of 

 taking off a few inches of the top soil of meadows, and 



