586 



CAPE COD CRANBERRIES. 



the first of September in the Cape Cod bogs. When 

 fully ripe, the berries are purple-black, and for this 

 reason they are favorites with consumers, for it is a 

 common though erroneous 

 notion that pale berries are 

 unripe. In late fall, the 

 foliage of the Early Black 

 assumes a purplish 

 tinge, which quite 



Fig. 6. 



readily distinguishes it from any other variety. 



The Dennis, a bugle berry (Fig. 6), is also a favorite 

 because of its good size, productiveness and bright 

 scarlet color. The fruit is picked late in September and 

 early in October. The foliage is darker than that of the 

 Early Red. 



The McFarlin, an oval dark red berry, is probably 

 the largest late berry grown. 



The Gould (named for Dr. Gould, of Cape Cod) is a 

 productive pear berry, of medium season, with a 

 bright purple fruit and light colored foliage. 



Lewis is probably the most brilliantly colored of 

 the cranberries. It is a very bright glossy scarlet, 

 medium in season, and pear-like in shape. 



Franklin is a comparatively new pear sort, as late 

 as Dennis, purple-red, with a high habit of growth. 

 It appears to have little to recommend it above older 

 sorts. 



A new berry which Mr. Makepeace showed me 

 appears to combine more merits than any berry 

 which I have ever seen. Some twelve years ago he 

 observed the original plants in a neighbor's bog, 

 occupying a space about six feet square, and he 

 procured a few cuttings. The small bog which he 

 now has of it is well worth a journey to see. The 

 berries are unusually large, cherry-shaped, a little 

 later than Early Black, and a bright rose-purple. 

 It is probably the largest early berry. It is shown 

 natural size in Fig. 7. I take pleasure in calling it 

 the Makepeace. 



It is an arduous labor to subdue a wild bog. The 

 bushes and trees must be removed, roots and all, and 

 it is usually necessary to remove the upper foot or 

 so of the surface in order to get rid of the roots, bushes 

 and undecayed accumulations. This process is termed 

 "turfing." The turf is commonly cut into small 

 squares and hauled off. It is necessary to leave the 



surface level and even, in order that all the plants may 

 have an equal chance and thereby make an even and 

 continuous bed, and to avoid inequalities in flooding. 



Although the cranberry thrives in swamps 

 and endures flooding at certain seasons, 

 it nevertheless demands comparative dry- 

 ness during the growing and fruiting sea- 

 son. Theswamp must therefore be drained. 

 Open ditches are cut at intervals of four 

 or five rods, about two feet deep and these 

 lead into the main or flooding ditch. It is 

 also often necessary to run a ditch around 

 the outside of the bog to catch the wash 

 from the banks. The areas enclosed within the in- 

 tersections of the ditches are called sections, and each 

 section is planted to a single variety. The main ditch 

 is usually a straightened creek, or it carries the over- 

 flow from a reservoir which may be built for the pur- 

 pose of affording water to flood the bog. Growers 

 always divert a creek through the bog if possible. In 

 the Cape Cod districts these creeks are often clear 

 trout brooks. The main ditch is strongly dammed to 

 allow of flooding. 



Before planting is done, the bog is sanded. This 

 operation consists in covering the whole surface with 

 about four inches of clean and coarse sand, free from 

 roots and weeds. The chief object of sanding is to 

 prevent too rapid growth and consequent unproductive- 

 ness of vines. In wild bogs, the cranberry rarely roots 

 deeply in the muck, but subsists rather in the loose 



Fig. 7. 



sphagnum moss. Vines that grow in pure muck rarely 

 produce well. 



The sand also serves as a mulch to the muck, miti- 



