1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



139 



CRANBERBY CULTURE. 

 The following remarks in relation to the cul- 

 ture of the cranberry, were made at the recent 

 session of the Maine State Board of Agriculture ? 



Mr. Dill said he had a small bog, in -which there 

 was a constant warfare between a species of lau- 

 rel and cranberries. He cuts up the laurel, and 

 uses it for banking to his house. After skimming 

 off the surface, and carrying it away, he puts on 

 sand. In the fall he flows, to defend from frost, 

 and to keep the plants from being thrown out, 

 and from a worm that infests them. He had pro- 

 cured plants from wild meadows, and from West 

 Bridgewater, the Bell and the Cherry cranberry. 

 He keeps the plants as carefully weeded as he does 

 plants in his garden. He had tried carefully a few 

 patches of the Bell that had produced at the rate 

 of 150 bushels to the acre. He had the Bugle 

 from ]Minnesota. He thinks pure, river sand the 

 best article to use. The rows had better be two 

 feet apart. They will not bear well till well mat- 

 ted. There is a finely bearing cranberry bed on 

 a high, dry knoll near him. His natives do not do 

 as well as those from Massachusetts and Wells. 

 There is a high-bush cranberry growing near him, 

 two kinds ; one is well known, and the other is 

 not. The latter is a few inches in height, and 

 very pleasant to the taste. Some of these are 

 now transplanted, to test the value for cultivation. 



Mr. True had watched the cranberry culture 

 closely. He had not felt well this fall when obliged 

 to send to the western part of Oxford for cran- 

 berries, when we have everpvhere plenty of bogs 

 suitable for their culture. He spoke of a case 

 where a man arranged a bog by plowing, &c., and 

 then said to the plants and grass, "Go it, and see 

 which will beat." He examined it at the time of 

 fruiting, and he thought, without any culture, a 

 pint bowl would cover enough to fill it. He knew 

 of another place in Kennebec county, where less 

 pains Avere taken, and greater success followed. 

 Dr. T. obtained vines, and set them out, not in a 

 suitable place, and in spite of frost, many of tliem 

 were doing well. There are hosts of farmers in 

 Maine whose bogs might be mines of wealth in 

 this regard. 



For tlie New England Farmer. 



PROFITS OF DAIRY FARMING. 



Mr. Editor : — I have read Avith attention the 

 statistics of your correspondents from Chelmsford 

 and Westboro', on the '"Profits of Farming." I 

 have also seen the meagre statement of what was 

 said, by the dignitaries of the land, at the first of 

 the farmers' meeting, on Monday evening last. 

 Now, sir, without in any manner infringing the 

 facts stated by others, I am free to say those com- 

 ing from Westboro' strikes me as nearest the 

 mark. I have certainly known many cases, w^here 

 a herd of half a dozen cows have yielded from 

 their milk alone a ])rofit of $30 each, during the 

 year. And if Mr. Quincy's view of the value of 

 the manure that can be made from a coav, be at 

 all correcf, (and I know not why it should not be, 

 as he is an honorable man, and the son of a truly 

 intelligent, practical farmer,) then, sir, it is clear 

 that the keeping of good dairy stock may be made 

 a profitable business. The fii-st experiment of the 

 kind to which my attention was di-awn, was con- 



ducted by Col. Jesse Putxam, of Danvers, (more 

 than forty years ago,) Avho still lives, at near nine- 

 ty years of age. He made from seven cows, an 

 average to a cow of 187 pounds of butter, in the 

 course of six months, which sold for 25 cents a 

 pound. On my father'* farm I have known a 

 product from cows quite as good as this, when I 

 assisted in milking them, though I cannot state 

 the particulars. South Danvers. 



AN INTERESTING REVIVAL. 



Farming, as well as commerce and manufac- 

 tures, has always had its periods of decline, revi- 

 val and success, and these have been caused by 

 the depression or prosperous condition of other 

 business. When commerce and manufactures are 

 paralyzed in any degree, the mechanic arts feel it 

 at once ; so the ship, house and store building, and 

 all the various handicrafts, are paralyzed or sus- 

 pended, and the attention of thousands is natural- 

 ly turned to the soil. 



The revulsion of 1857 had this result in some 

 degree, and undoubtedly turned many to the coun- 

 try who had been engaged in trade or in the arts. 

 But beyond all these contingencies, there is a 

 sound, and what will prove a permanent revival 

 and interest in the business of cultivating the soil ; 

 a higher appreciation of the sure and remunera- 

 tive results of the occupation, and a deeper love 

 for a calling Avhich tends more than all others to 

 promote health, to lead the mind to the higliest 

 contemplations of truth and duty, to save from the 

 destructive tendencies of rapidly increasing 

 wealth, or the equally rapid descent to poverty, 

 and to ennoble and dignify our natures to the 

 highest points of excellence and virtue. 



The present is one of those periods when after - 

 tion is turned in an unusual degree to agricultural 

 life, and when inquiries are earnest and frcquei.t 

 as to what modes of farming will produce th." 

 most sure and profitable results. The action of 

 the State Board of Agriculture in aiding the es- 

 tablishment and encouragement of farmers' clubs, 

 is arousing the attention of all classes of people 

 throughout the State. Under the auspices of the 

 Board, we have recently visited several towns, 

 and find that the people have taken hold of the 

 work themselves, and have taken hold in the right 

 way. 



Early in January, we had the pleasure of visit- 

 ing the farmers of Franklin, in Norfolk county, 

 and of addressing them upon the objects which 

 the Board of Agriculture have in contemplation. 

 We scarcely know whether farming is the leading 

 pursuit in this town, as there are five manufacto- 

 ries of bonnets in the village, employing about 

 200 females and 100 males. Many of the bonnets, 

 however, are made in the families of this and the 

 neighboring tOAvns. By far the greater portion of 



