23 
s0C3IU" 8 I 
Cranberry Growing. 
BY JOHN M. STAHL. 
Cranberries are now extensively grown 
along the Atlantic and lake shores, where 
sandy marsh districts abound, and they 
have become a common article in our gro¬ 
cery stores and on our hotel tables. They 
are a really desirable fruit and their grow¬ 
ing can be made very profitable on soils 
adapted to their culture. But h>re lies the 
trouble; the cranberry must have a certain 
clay or loam soils will not answer— 
and the ground must be capable of being 
flooded or made dry at will. But any per¬ 
son who has such land should try cranber¬ 
ries, for it is doubtful if in any other way 
it can be made to yield a larger profit. And 
in many localities where cranberry culture 
is not now thought of the land could be 
putin good condition for it, and the in¬ 
dustry would give the most gratifying re¬ 
sults. 
The most important point is the water 
supply, as it is absolutely necessary to flood 
the grounds, not alone to preserve the 
mars hy nature in winter, but to destroy 
the numerous insect pests which other¬ 
wise will soon prove fatal to the crop. 
Natural sandy marshes could be utilized; or 
where the soil is of the right composition, 
the profits from the undertaking will gen¬ 
erally justify bringing water from wells, 
ponds, or creeks. I have spoken of a suit¬ 
able soil: As already stated, cranberries 
can not be grown profitably on clay or 
loam soils; the best soil is a muck with a 
coaling of sand on top. But the sand must 
be sharp, and it is folly to plant cranberries 
on a drift foundation. 
On account of the flooding, etc., the 
ground must be level—if not naturally level 
it must be made so. It is not necessary to 
have a leveling instrument, other than a 
carpenter’s level. Begin by making stakes, 
a foot or more in length, and cut off square 
at the top; also, point the edges of a plank 
ten or twelve feet long, making the edges 
parallel.---The -latter is to be used in con¬ 
nection with the carpenter’s level, in leveling 
the stakes; Now drive one of the stakes 
So that the top will be just' on a level with 
the supposed surface of the bOg, if the 
stake is driven on a high point; otherwise 
it is better to have the top six or eight inch¬ 
es above the supposed surface. Then drive 
rows of stakes all over the bog, making 
their tops level. Of course the stakes show 
just where dirt should be taken from and 
where it should be put. Low places are 
filled and high places reduced till all the 
stakes extend the same distance above the 
new surface. However, it is not absolute¬ 
ly essential that the entire ground be re¬ 
duced to one level. If it is considereably 
out of level naturally, or is quite extensive, 
it is the better plan to have several grades 
with low dikes between them. But all 
grades must be level. There is no danger 
of this work being too well done; and time 
is saved by careful calculations beforehand. 
Thus if the stakes are properly driven the 
dirt taken from the spots too high will be 
just sufficient to fill up the low spots to the 
required level. 
When a bog is leveled it is necessary to 
put the layer of sand on top of the muck, 
as it will be naturally wanting. The amount 
of sand will depend upon the depth of the 
peat. If the peat is less than two feet in 
thickness a layer of sand five inches deep 
will be sufficient. But if the peat is several 
feet deep, at least a foot of sand will be re¬ 
quired. The effect of the sand upon the 
vines may be stated thus: The more sand 
there is used the longer it will require to 
bring the vines into a bearing state; but 
when brought into that state they will con¬ 
tinue to bear longer than if less sand had 
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