47 



Meadows so treated require but little labor or expense for several 

 years. 



The high price and increasing demand for cranberries have 

 given a new impulse to their cultivation. We refer both to the 

 improvement of natural meadows, by removing whatever hinders 

 the growth of the vines, and by a systematic course of flooding, 

 and to the planting of vines in meadows, expressly prepared for 

 that purpose. Some experiments on a large scale have been com- 

 menced, but sufficient time has not yet elapsed to warrant an ex- 

 pression of opinion upon the results. Suffice it to say, those most 

 interested are satisfied that they shall reap a good harvest. We 

 have had frequent inquiries about the methods adopted, the kinds 

 of vines, the time of setting out, the preparation of the land, &;c., 

 by parties bent on experimenting on a small scale. But our own 

 stock of practical knowledge is small, and we can only refer in- 

 quirers to men already engaged in the business, or to various con- 

 tributions in previous volumes of our transactions. In the volume 

 entitled "'Agriculture of Massachusetts, by C. L. Hunt," for 

 1853, will be found several excellent communications, Avhich go 

 into the details of growing cranberries, xilso a E,eport upon 

 Cranberries by the Secretary himself, which is full and complete, 

 abounding in practical suggestions. Very few persons are aware 

 of the extent of the cranberry culture, the demand for the fruit, or 

 the interest recently awakened in the details of various methods. 

 On these and various other topics, Mr. Hvmt's Report affords 

 much instruction. The market is never glutted with this arti- 

 cle. There is no probability that it can be. The price is always 

 high, and the demand steadily increases. We beheve that in a 

 few years many a now unproductive meadow will be worth more 

 than all the rest of the farm. This is already the case in several 

 instances that have come to our knowledge. We know men who 

 have received from one hundred to five hundred dollars for their 

 cranberries this season ; and the natural meadow of Captain W. 

 Tucker of Canton, does not probably yield a net annual profit of 

 less than two thousand dollars. Perhaps no man in this vicinity 

 has had more experience in this business, or is better qualified to 

 give the necessary information to persons about commencing it. 



Our principal cereal crop, Indian corn, has been remarkably 

 large and sound this season. We have found a most gratifying 



