106 



and hoe of no further use in keeping clown the grass and weeds. 

 Fingering (cleaning bj hand,) an acre of cranberries was now 

 out of the question, so that weeds, grass, and cranberries were 

 left to conflict for the mastery. During the drought of 1852, 

 the cranberry vines, on the upper or dryest part of the land, be- 

 gan to fail, evidently suffering from the severity of the drought. 

 0)1 the middle portion, the soil being deep and mellotv, they grew 

 finely, overpowering the weeds and grass, and, in places, bearing 

 at the rate of half a bushel to the square rod, and apparently not 

 at all affected by the dry weather. In the lowest part, which was 

 the moistest, the grass appeared to gain the ascendancy, and al- 

 though the vines spread as well as the grass, the yield of cran- 

 berries was not more than one-third as great as on the middle por- 

 tion, owing, doubtless, to the natural tendency of the soil to grass. 



" This year (1852) the vines in the central part overrun the 

 ground to the exclusion of every thing else, and the yield appears 

 (October 13) greater than that of any preceding year, and the 

 fruit far superior in size and color to that raised in swamps. 

 Whether the grass in the lower part will eventually yield to the 

 cranberry is a matter which time will prove, but which I think is 

 likely. 



" Salt, at the rate of four bushels to the acre, I would recom- 

 mend as a preventive for worms, which are so troublesome on light 

 soils. One-tenth of my upland berries were destroyed by the 

 worms or the plum curculio last year ; but their ravages, I believe, 

 have ceased, as I have not observed a berry stung this year. 



" Salt I believe to be a benefit to the upland cranberry, inasmuch 

 as it attracts the moisture, keeps down the weeds in a measure, 

 and aids the growth of the vines, to say nothing of the vermin. 

 On a small scale, I have applied at the rate of fifteen bushels of 

 salt per acre over the vines, in the spring, with impunity. 



" The conclusions to which I arrive, after experimenting with 

 the cranberry five years, are as follows : — 



" 1st. That the cranberry will flourish and yield best on moist 

 sand ; that they will grow and produce well on loamy soils, but 

 moderately dry, is an established fact in my own mind, though as 

 a matter of choice, poor moist sand would be preferable. 



" 2d. That porous, sandy loams for the cultivation of the 

 cranberry, are unsuitable and contrary to the nature and require- 



