1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



107 



rem; over $1..0O and less than $2 per pound, 

 50 cents per pound and 40 per cent, ad valo- 

 rem ; over $2 per pound, oOc per lb. and 45 

 per cent, ad valorem. Mi-. Wells proposed 

 2-l:cper lb., and 35 per cent, ad valorem,. The 

 bill nu\v goes to the House for its consideration. 



CRANBERIIIES. 



We find in the recently published transac- 

 tions of the Essex County, Mass., Agricultu- 

 ral Society, a statement of the mode of culti- 

 vation of cranberry meadows, successfully 

 practiced by Criibert Conant, of Ipswich, for 

 which a premium was awarded by the society. 



In the sunnner of 18(31, he commenced on a 

 meadow of about one acre, by cutting a ditch 

 to drain it. The muck which was thrown out 

 paid for the labor of ditching. It was then 

 plowed liom four to six inches deep, according 

 to the inequalities of the surface. A small 

 flood-gate was made, at an expense of $5, by 

 which the meadow is flowed annually from 

 about the first of November to the first of May. 

 There have always been some cranberry bushes 

 on tills spot, but only a very few were ever 

 gathered upon it previous to 1861, when 

 Mr. Conant commenced operations. He neith- 

 er planted vines nor sowed the seeds, having 

 found, by experience, that "whenever any 

 meadow adapted to the cultivation of the cran- 

 berry is properly prepared, vines will spring 

 up and bear spontaneously." Two loads of 

 sand were spread upon the ice in the winter of 

 1863, which greatly increased the productive- 

 ness of the vines on the spots where the sand 

 was applied. Of the crops for the five years 

 past, Mr. Conant gives the following particu- 

 lars : 



The first summer afler preparing the meadow 

 as stated, vines sprang up and grew consider- 

 ably on the lowest parts of it. The second 

 summer the vines increased and grew rapidly. 

 In the fall of that year I gathered about a half 

 bushel of cranberries. In 1864, the vines blos- 

 somed full, and after the berries were set, gave 

 promise of a fine crop ; but an early frost, 

 whiie they were cjuite green, injured them so 

 that I gathered but about a bushel. In 1865 

 the vines had increased in some spots on the 

 meadow, so that they had almost killed out the 

 grass, and in the fall, when the berries were 

 ripe, they lay so thick that the vines were 

 scarcely visible. I gathered twenty bushels of 

 cranberries, worth three and a half dollars per 

 bushel. The expense of gathering and mar- 

 keting these berries was less than ten dollars. 

 This year, 1866, there are but very few cran- 



berries in this section of country, though my 

 vines are bearing better than I have seen any 

 others on fresh meadow. 



Fine Stock. — A correspondent who visited 

 the farm of V. M. Hubbard, Esq., of "North 

 Hollow," Vt., writes us that the twenty-one 

 head of horned cattle, the five horses, and the 

 fifty Spanish Merino sheep, which are fed at 

 his stalls, well deserve an honorable mention. 

 For sheep, in particular, he thinks Mr. 

 Hubbard has a discriminating eye, and 

 that his flock has few equals, even in the fa- 

 mous Champlain valley, as they exhibit marks 

 of superior breeding. He has two bucks 

 which served two hundred and forty-eight 

 ewes, -^fifty-five of his own, and the remainder 

 of his neighbors. Mr. H. has three hundred 

 acres of good land, and our correspondent 

 thinks, with such a farm, and such stock, he 

 might be tempted to settle down as a Veimont 

 farmer, himself. 



NEW PUBLICATIO]SrS. 



Transactions of the Essex Agricultural Society in 

 MaBsachpsetts for 1866. 



We are indebted to the Secretary of the So- 

 ciety for a copy of this publication. Hon. Otis 

 P. Lord delivered the address. The Treasur- 

 er reports funds on hand to the amount of 

 89,215.13. The officers for the year ensuing: 

 — President — William Sutton, South Danvers. 

 Vice Presidents — Lewis Allen, of South Dan- 

 vers ; David Choate, of Essex ; Josiah New- 

 hall, of Lynnfield ; E. G. Kelly of Newbury- 

 poi't. Treasurer, E. H. Payson, Salem. Sec- 

 retary, Charles P. Preston, Danvers. To say 

 that this issue is equal to its predecessors is the 

 highest j^raise that the society can desire. 



What a Farmers' Club Did. — Mr. Solon 

 Carter, of Leominster, Mass., made the follow- 

 ing statement at a late meeting of the Fitch- 

 burg Farmers' Club : — 



"Before the Farmers' Club was established, 

 Leominster farmers seldom raised 50 bushels 

 of corn per acre, and the average was far be- 

 low that figure. Now, I think they average 

 near 60 bushels." 



State Board. — John L. Cole, of Williams- 

 town, succeeds Lj'sander Johnson, of North 

 Adams ; and T. D. Thatcher, of Lee, succeeds 

 Harrison Garfield, of the same town, on the 

 State Board of Agriculture of Massachusetts. 



