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XXXIV. On the Cultivation of the English Cranberry, 

 ( Oxy coccus palustris,) in dry Beds. In a Letter to the 

 Secretary. By Mr. Thomas Milne, F. H. S. 



Read January 21, 1823. 



Sir, 



Th e sample of English Cranberries which I had the honour 

 of sending to the Horticultural Society on the 2d of Sep- 

 tember last, were gathered from cultivated plants growing on 

 a bed made in the same way, in every respect, as for Rhodo- 

 dendrons, Azalias, Andromedas, and other plants, generally 

 denominated American. The soil was brought from Wim- 

 bledon Common, and was of that kind known by the name of 

 black heath-mould, or peat, with a considerable quantity of 

 white sand amongst it. The sand I however do not consider 

 very essential to the growth of the Oxycoccus palustris, 

 and if we may judge from the soils on which it grows natu- 

 rally, it would perhaps be as well, or better, without it. The 

 plants were put into the bed in the spring, at about one foot 

 from each other every way, but I believe they would grow 

 equally well, if planted at almost any other time of the year, 

 except during the hot summer months, when there would be 

 a greater risk of losing some of them, unless occasionally 

 shaded and judiciously watered. As their slender shoots 

 advanced, they were constantly laid into the ground about 

 two or three inches deep, in order that they might the more 

 certainly root, and be less influenced by the heat and dry 



