242 



SMALT. FRUIT CULTTJEIST. 



ones. The seeds should be prepared and kept througl 

 the winter in the sime manner as recommended for the 

 SucMeberry in a succeeding chapter. 



Sow them in drills and keep free of weeds, eitlier by 

 hoeing or mulching with saw-dust, or tan-bark, if grown 

 on dry soils, but if on low grounds, use sand instead. 

 Transplant into fruiting-beds wlien one or two years old. 



PREPARATION OF SOIL. 



Naturally, the common Cranberry is a semi-aquatic 

 plant, requiring a constant supply of Avater to ensure its 

 highest state of per&ction. It is usually found in low peat 

 bogs, where it is often entirely submerged in the winter 

 months, and the roots are in contact with water during a 

 greater portion of the year. 



While this is the condition in which we usually find the 

 wild. plants, yet, occasionally, they are found upon high and 

 dry soils. Judging, however, from the position in which 

 w^e find the greatest quantities, ^YQ conclude that a wet 

 soil is the most natural one. If we leave the nonnal con- 

 dition of the plant out of the question, and base our con- 

 clusions entirely upon the results of the many experiments 

 which have been made in the last thirty years, we find 

 that their cultivation in wet soils has been attended with 

 the best success and the most remunerative results. It is 

 not to be assumed that they cannot be grown upon soils 

 that are naturally dry, for w^e have man)4 instances of suc- 

 cess under such circumstances, but, as a whole, the upland 

 cultivation has not been equally profitable wdth the low 

 land. It is not altogether for the purpose of supplying 

 the plants with moisture that abundance of w^ater is re- 

 quired, but for other purposes, among wdiich are the fol- 

 lowing : 



First. — Covering the plants in w^inter, thereby afiording 

 a protection from severe cold. 



