1871] 



THE WESTERN POMOLOGIST. 



149 



expense of picking, cleaning, and marketing did 

 not exceed, if it equalled one-third, leaving four 

 hundred dollaiM, net profit as no labor or expense 

 was incurred in planting the land. A much larger 

 rate per acre has been realized in places where the 

 vines hatl full possession and were of sufticienl age 

 to bear a full crop. It is no exaggeration to say 

 that three hundred bushels per acre can be raised 

 on laud in right condition, ami when the .season is 

 fovorable. * * 



A brief statement of the number of bushels gath- 

 ered by some of the largest growers, will give some 

 idea of the value of a bearing cranberry marsh : 



(larey Brothers gathered and sold 3,400 

 barrels, average price .f U per barrel $ 37,400.00 



Deduct one-third for gatherinu-, clean- 

 ing, barrels, &c 12,466.00 



Net income for 1.S70 $ 34,934.00 



The marsh belonging to the Hackett 

 estate, yielded 2,000 barrels, estimate $11 

 (now (fuoted at $47 per bbl. in Chicago.) $ 23,000.00 

 One-third off 7,060.00 



Net income for 1870 



« ♦ -♦ 



.$ 14,340.00 



XUc Blueberry. 



Mr. J. G. Knapp writes to the Western Farmer 

 about the blueberry, and he evidently knows 

 whereof he speaks, tor we have seen the whole 

 thing just as he talks it up. There are two sorts of 

 the blueberry — or rather in habit of growth — dis- 

 tinguished as the high and low bush. Mr. K. is 

 talking of the latter, which grows to the height of 

 ten to eighteen inches. The high bush is seldom if 

 ever found on light, sandy soil, but is generally met 

 with on low, wet land, or heavy upland. Unlike 

 almost any other plant or shrub, the blueberry will 

 not thrive under cultivation. All it wants is to be 

 let alone. On a visit to New Hampshire in the 

 autumn of 1864, we took up and brought home 

 plants of the high bush, and now have them fruit- 

 ing upon our own grounds. As to whether the low 

 bush will flourish upon ordinary prairie soil we 

 cannot say. In the Eastern States it is not often 

 met with excejit on the sandy plains, or on the 

 rocky mountain and hill sides, where little or noth- 

 ing else wiM grow. 



" What have you got to say of them ? A good 

 deal, and in favor of their growth and cultivation. 

 Do not men cultivate cranberries, and make money 

 at the bu.siness? But cranberries grow in swamps, 

 and cannot, in this State, be grown much elsewhere. 

 They Ciinnot be grown in all swamps in all parts of 

 this State. Naturally the plant is limited to a belt 

 of the State, and, from what is now known of the 

 nature of the plant, its limits cannot well be ex- 

 tended much north and south of this natural belt. 



Blueberries grow along the same belt of land, but 

 more extensively than the cranberries. They grow 



on the dry lands, on the sands, where almost noth- 

 ing else grows. These plants will lake entire po.s- 

 .session of the land on which they grow, if permilcd 

 to do so. When they shall do so, they will jtroduee 

 as many bu.shels to the acre as do the cranberries, 

 of which we hear so much said of their profitable- 

 ness. 



The two ])lants are in the same natural family ; 

 the one sour, the other with just acid enough 

 not to be in.sipid ; the one requires pound for 

 pound of sugar to render them palatable, the 

 other are by nature food for man, beast and bird ; 

 the one can be preserved by cooking jiound and 

 pound, and canning air - tight, the other dries more 

 easily than any other berry, and witli a small quan- 

 tity of acid they can be made to rival the Zante 

 currants for all culinary purposes. Their season is 

 longer than any oilier berry we have; and they are 

 as regularly sought for. No berry carries better to 

 market, unless in such (luantities as to be crushed 

 by their own weight. 



All the care they want is a piece of sand, too bar- 

 ren for grass or oak grubs, and just so much tending 

 as shall give them all the .sunshine. Take such a 

 l)iece of land, cover it with bushes, give them their 

 liberty the year round, without the inteifereuce of 

 goat or sheej), and the owner will keep ofl" the hens 

 and turkeys, and he has nothing to do but harvest 

 the crop. It makes its own manure, and tics its 

 own sand tirnier than a mortgage. All vacancies 

 will fill from new jilants, or may be filled liy hand. 



There are thousands and thousands of acres in 

 Wisconsin that are to - day valueless, tliat might be 

 made to yield a hundred or more bushels each, if 

 planted to this humble plant. Let us hear from 

 some of the sand planters on this subject." 



Forelu;; Stra^vberries. 



At a meeting of the Pennsylvania Fruit Growers' 

 Society. D. M. Herstine related his method of forc- 

 ing the strawberry. He said : 



" I prepared the ground about as an amateur 

 would for open air culture, trenching dee]) and 

 manuring heavily. Set the plants in the s|)ring, 

 one to every foot S(|uare, keeping clear of weeds 

 and runners during the summer, cultivating moder- 

 ately. Before hard freezing commences, or at any 

 time during the fall, set the frarres, which should 

 not be over fifteen inches high on the one side, and 

 ten to twelve inches on the other, giving only suf- 

 ficient .slope to carry off the water. The most 

 convenient width for the frame is eight feet, and 

 sash four feet wide. The plants should receive 

 about the usual winter mulching, as in open air 

 culture, of leaves or clean straw. About the mid- 

 dle of February, or as soon after as the weather 

 will admit, the mulching should be removed and 

 the sash put on ; a healthy growth will soon com- 



