November 5, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



535 



And the Sweet-Gum has attractive fruit, also — spherical heads 

 suspended by long pedicels on naked twigs, mostly persistent, 

 swaying in the wind throughout the winter. And here is the 

 Ampelopsis, a liame of color, clinging to the rugged trunks of 

 the Gum-trees, and holding clusters of bluish black fruit in 

 reserve for winter feasts for the bluebirds and robins, whose 

 winter quarters are in the great Cedar-swamps of the region. 



And the Cedars are now adorned with pretty, berry-like 

 fruit, covered with a glaucous bloom of pale blue. The cover- 

 ing of the seeds is sweet and nice to the taste, and is highly 

 relished by many birds, especially by bluebirds and robins. 



The Climbing Bitter-sweet {Celastrics scandens) is now dis- 

 playing its scarlet seeds here and there in the Pines. I found 

 one clinging over an old Cedar-tree which made a charming 

 picture and gave me a hint to go and do likewise in my gar- 

 den, a result easily accomplished, as both the Cedar and the 

 Bitter-sweet were already there. Not far from this Bitter- 

 sweet the Virgin's Bower (Clematis Virginiana) had formed a 

 pretty bower by climbing over some bushes, and, not content 

 with these, it had reached up to a tree, where it displayed its 

 feathery white tails in conspicuous clusters. At a little distance 

 these feathery appendages of the seeds looked like a mass of 

 white flowers. 



The Sumach (Rhus copallind) is now quite ornamental both 

 in foliage and fruit. The fruit is a dense crimson colored 

 panicle, extremely acid to the taste. And the terrible poison 

 Sumach (R. venenata) looks handsome with its scarlet foliage 

 and drooping panicles of white fruit, which I can only admire 

 at a safe distance. 



We find plants of the Wax Myrtle (Myrica cerifera), with 

 branches almost covered with the white waxy seeds. The 

 foliage and fruit are both fragrant, making it a desirable 

 addition to our ornamental collection. And the Wild Rose 

 hips are abundant and almost as pretty as the flowers. And 

 there are many dry fruits, especially in the Heath family, whose 

 seed-pods are ornamental, such as Andromeda, Leucothoe, 

 Azalea and others. 



Turning our attention to the ground, we find in places that 

 it is almost covered with the aromatic Wintergreen, with 

 clusters of sweet, spicy, red berries. And the Partridge-vine 

 (Mitchella reftens) is creeping around old decaying stumps, 

 showing its twin scarlet berries. And the Wild Cranberry is 

 trailing about in the moss with crimson fruit sour enough to 

 set one's teeth on edge; but the long sprays, covered with 

 small evergreen leaves, and the bright berries, are very or- 

 namental. 



Vineiand, N.J. Mary Treat. 



Cranberry Culture in New Jersey. 



IT often happens that the same crop is profitably grown in 

 different places under different systems of cultivation, and 

 many Cranberry-growers in New Jersey claim that Cape Cod 

 methods are not the best — for New Jersey. I have spent part 

 of two seasons on bogs of the Cape, and have spent a good 

 deal of time for several years past on New Jersey bogs, pri- 

 marily studying the insect enemies of the Cranberry, but with 

 an eye also to methods of culture. Cape Cod methods are 

 well described by Professor Bailey in the paper quoted in Gar- 

 den and Forest (page 511), and perhaps a few words on 

 New Jersey methods, inasmuch as they differ, may prove of 

 interest. The bogs to be cultivated do not differ very essen- 

 tially from those of the Cape-Cod region. A peat bottom is 

 preferred, and the land once located, dams enough are built 

 to flow it, and the water is left on for a year to kill off the bulk 

 of the vegetation. This is then cut, the brush is uprooted and 

 carried off and the ground decently cleared. The Cape Cod 

 grower would thoroughly remove all stumps, level his bog 

 carefully and sand heavily. This practice has been quite gen- 

 erally followed in New Jersey until a fewyears ago when some 

 large growers claimed that sanding was unnecessary, and the 

 vines are now generally planted in the mud. Where the vege- 

 tation has been killed by flooding, holes are punched in the 

 decaying mass, and vines are set as described by Professor 

 Bailey. It has been noticed that the heaviest crop of berries 

 is borne by vines surrounding stumps, and these are now left 

 in the ground to decay naturally. Ditching and draining are 

 done as on Cape Cod, and old mill-ponds have become favorite 

 sites for bogs. 



This method of setting out a bog costs very much less than 

 the Cape Cod method, and the result in looks is very much 

 inferior. The vines, however, grow excellently well, better, 

 indeed, most growers now say, than in sand, and the runners 

 strike root as readily in the mud as they could in any other 

 soil. The weeds are a nuisance, and here our eastern friends 

 have the advantage, for they are more easily controlled in the 



sand. However, as the vines cover the ground they drive out 

 most of the other plants, and the stubborn fighters, like Ferns, 

 Sedges and Briars, are gradually exterminated. Some fine 

 Grasses are not meddled with at all. They do not seem to 

 prevent the growth of the vines, and, in fact, are considered 

 rather a benefit, since these grassy patches bear the largest 

 and safest crops. They are less liable to " scald " — the Jersey 

 grower's most dreaded enemy — and they seem protected from 

 many of the climatic difficulties which afflict their cleaner 

 neighbors. A New Jersey bog is never as clean as the Cape 

 bogs, nor usually even as clean as they should be. They bear 

 quite as heavily, however, and after all that is what the farmers 

 are looking for. In the east vines are kept short and re-sand- 

 ing is done every few years. In New Jersey vines are often 

 allowed to grow until they form a mat a foot thick, and indi- 

 vidual vines maybe several feet long. In some seasons these 

 vines bear enormously ; but they are not so safe for an 

 annual crop as shorter vines. Instead of sanding, many 

 growers mow the vines when they become too rank and so 

 get a new and vigorous growth from old roots. 



New England has perhaps the oldest cultivated bog-land, 

 but there are many old bogs in New Jersey as well. Farmers 

 are not entirely exempt from all human weaknesses, and some 

 years ago, when the conviction prevailed that cranberries were 

 a sure road to wealth without much work, Cranberry-land rose 

 enormously in value, and all land was Cranberry-land if it was 

 only in a Cranberry-region. Vines were planted on hill-sides, 

 in sand-holes, in swamps, everywhere in fact. The inevitable 

 reaction came. Insects and other pests eliminated the badly 

 placed plantations and others were abandoned from want of 

 knowledge. I have tramped in rubber boots over bogs on 

 which thousands of dollars were spent which never yielded a 

 dollar, and which now are so overgrown with brush as to 

 leave no trace of cultivation. Naturally, New Jersey is much 

 more favorably located for Cranberry-culture than Cape Cod. 

 Our land is at least equally good, and our seasons are longer. 

 We do not fear frost as early, and our vines get an earlier 

 start. There is not that necessity for looking to early maturity 

 in the berry which has made the Early Black the favorite 

 on the Cape. For color and appearance the Early Black 

 eclipses the ordinary New Jersey berry; but the latter is fully as 

 good in flavor, makes just as good sauce, and has the enor- 

 mous advantage of keeping well. New Jersey growers usu- 

 ally count on giving the east the early market, sending in only 

 their dark varieties, which sell as Cape Cod berries and at the 

 same price. The bulk of the crop is housed in special cran- 

 berry-houses, in which the berries are so packed as to season 

 thoroughly. When Cape Cod berries are out of the way 

 our berries take the market. The color is good, the fruit is 

 usually sound, there is no undue competition, and the berries 

 bring whatever the market will stand. 



In describing the separation of berries, Professor Bailey does 

 not refer to "bouncing." In picking late, or over scalding 

 bogs, some soft berries will get into the boxes. To eliminate 

 these, the berries are poured over an inclined screen and 

 allowed to drop on a smooth board, beyond which is the re- 

 ceiver. The sound berries come down with a rush, strike the 

 smooth surface and bound into the receiver. The soft ber- 

 ries come down with a thud, but have no '* bounce " in them, 

 and remain on the board, swept off at short intervals by the 

 screeners. 



Thus Cape Cod and New Jersey produce the same fruit by 

 quite different means of cultivation; but they are not competi- 

 tors, for while the Cape has looks and flavor it must sell early, 

 as the fruit does not keep well. New Jersey sells its dark ber- 

 ries as Cape Cod fruit, and keeps its best until the eastern 

 berries are gone and then supplies the market according to 

 demand. 



Of late years our growers have paid more attention to devel- 

 oping varieties, but, while they look after size and color, they 

 retain keeping quality as an essential, and the varieties are 

 still too little fixed or cultivated to merit notice here. 



The systems of picking are different in New Jersey from 

 those in use on the Cape, but that does not prevent their get- 

 ting in the berries as effectually. 



Rutgers College. John B. Smith. 



I insist upon it that a plan complete in every detail should 

 be adopted at the beginning and followed throughout. To be 

 sure, in certain circumstances I should not hold to this latter 

 point ; for, given a fixed leading idea, the artist, during the 

 progress of the work, ought to feel himself free to study his 

 materials anew, ... to modify his ideas of the details, 

 or even to abandon them wholly or in part in case better 

 ideas should come to him. — Piickler-Muskait. 



