82 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Cultivation of Cranberries. 
ago there was not a tree here ; somehow you have 
had good luck, or the sod suits them. 1 love to 
see trees growing as well as anybody, but leant 
find time to set them.” 
“Aye ’squire, I have heard this many times be¬ 
fore. As to soil, many of my friends expressed 
wonder that I should plant trees where the ground 
was so unsuitable, and as to not having time, I have 
never seen the farmer, unless he had a double 
business pursuit, who had not had time to plant 
shade and fruit trees. You have had abundant 
time, and I will prove it. One day last Spring, 
when the frost was out of the ground, but too wet 
to plow, I took my man and team and went into 
the woods and dug up over twenty ash and elm 
trees. Aficr dinner we dug the holes and set them 
out by the road. Next day r we put posts around 
them and secured them against the winds and cat¬ 
tle. Now, on that day you went to a trial at the 
Court-House ten miles off, in which you had 
no personal interest, and the next day you went to 
the village and was so busy telling about the trial 
to other loungers at the stores and tavern, who have 
never found time to set out a tree, that the whole 
day was consumed. Last Fall, I went to the 
nursery and purchased a quantity of fruit trees, 
and set them out in the orchard ; but it was by 
staying at home, and not going to the political 
meetings, auctions, <fcc., as you did, and by so doing 
I was ahead of you in my work when Winter 
came.” 
“ Neighbor, you hit pretty hard to be sure, but 
somehow, I don't know what kind of trees live 
best.” 
“ Nothing easier. Dig up and transplant any 
kind of trees carefully, and they will live; but do 
not choose too large ones ; you will seldom find a 
forest tree more than two inches in diameter to 
succeed as well as a size smaller. And there are 
but few places in the United States where access 
cannot be had to good nurseries from which you 
can make your selection.” 
“ Yes, but neighbor, they are too costly for me ; 
the rich can only purchase enough to fill their yards, 
and line their roads.” 
“ Very well, this Spring instead of walking down 
to the village to spend the time, or attending every 
auction you hear of, unless you intend to purchase 
before you go, take your men into your woods, and 
commence operations. Where you cut off timber 
five years ago I recently noticed a beautiful lot of 
sugar maples, and in another part some black-wal¬ 
nuts, beech, and bass-wood trees. I noticed near 
your swamp, white-woods, and sweet-gum. Try 
them too, they are beautiful trees, and succeed well 
if of the right size. I have no belief in this want 
of time to set out trees. Plant one a year, if no¬ 
thing more, for shade around your house, and in 
twenty years you may have a respectable shade. 
If you love your wife, squire, as you ought to, if 
you love your children, if you respect the opinion 
of your friends, or regard the beauty of country 
life, ornament your grounds with a suitable number 
of shade trees. And while you are about it, just 
set a few rose bushes around your house, say altheas, 
or any other pretty flowering shrub, and I know 
Julia will thank you for it, and your daughters will 
esteem you the more. Try it.” 
The ’squire acquiesced in the suggestion of his 
neighbor, and I trust he will act upon them. S. 
North Hempstead, Feb., 10th., 1858. 
An Irishman, in great fright and, haste, rushed 
into Ahernethy’s office and exclaimed: “ Be 
Dad, the boy Tim has swallowed a rat!” “ Then, 
be dad,” said the doctor, “ tell the boy Tim to 
ew allow a cat!” 
The cultivation of cranberries has been con¬ 
fined, almost exclusively, to New England, and 
chiefly to Massachusetts, though they have grown 
well, to some extent, in several other States. 
Many have supposed that this fruit could be raised 
successfully only on the salt marshes of the sea¬ 
board, or, at least, on low, boggy land, subject to 
frequent inundations. W r e are glad to see an in¬ 
terest springing up in the cultivation of this deli¬ 
cious fruit outside of New England, and are 
pleased with the evidence that it can be raised in 
any part of the country, and on upland as well as 
in low marshes. 
One species, the small, European, abounds, not 
only in northern Europe, but also on this conti¬ 
nent, in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and along 
the St. John’s river. Another, the common Amer¬ 
ican, is found in all our higher northern latitudes, 
and from thence to North Carolina, on the south, 
and to Minnesota, on the west. Each of these 
species may be subdivided into several varieties, 
such as the oval, flat, globular, Ac., The “bell va¬ 
riety,” we believe, is the most popular sort for 
cultivation in New England. As the farmers of 
the middle States are beginning to turn their at¬ 
tention to the culture of this fruit, we offer a few 
hints on the subject. (An excellent article from 
the pen of Mr. Bagley, appeared in our last volume, 
page 9.) 
Let it be premised that, though the cranberry 
can be grown successfully on upland, it is yet 
questionable whether it will pay as well as corn 
or grass. The native habitation of this plant is 
in low marshy land, unfit for raising any other 
crop, and it is such soils, chiefly, that we advise 
our readers to use for this purpose. But of this, 
more hereafter. 
The native species has a stem two to four or five 
feet long, sometimes, indeed, stretching out a dozen 
or more feet, in favorable localities. The leaves are 
oblong, and the flowers quite showy. The berries 
hang from the end of the young branches on red¬ 
dish stalks, so bent at the extremity as to resem¬ 
ble a crane’s head, neck and bill, from which ap¬ 
pearance it derived its name— crane's-lcrry. In 
their growing state, the berries have a dull green 
color, and are comparatively tasteless; when ripe, 
they assume a rich scarlet, or carmine hue, and 
contain a rich acid, very agreeable to the palate. 
As it has been already said, its favorite home 
is in wet, boggy land ; yet it is sometimes found 
in hilly regions. Plainly, it is not fastidious about 
the place of its abode. It will grow on low land, 
inundated by the tide ; on coarse, clean sand ; on 
peaty soils ; on dry gravelly upland ; and in any 
rich garden mould—though it thrives best, and 
bears most abundantly on lands just suited to its 
wants. 
It is propagated in three ways, viz., by seed, by 
cuttings, and by transplanted roots. The first is a 
slow method, requiring the loss of two years, but 
answers well where time is of little account. To 
prepare the seed—mash the berry, wash away the 
pulp, mix with sand to facilitate sowing; then 
scatter broadcast, and harrow in. To propagate 
by cuttings, awell-informed writer says : “ Gather 
a large quantity of vines, and run them through 
a common hay-cutter, until they are reduced to the 
required length, an inch or two, when they may 
be sown broadcast and harrowed in. These slips, 
take root very soon, starting from the base of the 
leaves, and at the same time shooting up many 
rising branches.” Others prefer sowing in drills, 
covering with care. In propagating by trans¬ 
planting the roots, tlve ground needs hardly less 
preparation than for sowing. All busl.es and foul 
weeds and grasses should be exterminated. Afto* 
the ground is well cleaned, spread on the sur¬ 
face three or four inches of sand. Take up 
the plant with a sharp spade, and set them a 
foot apart in the rows, and the rows a foot and a- 
half or two feet apart. Some persons prefer set¬ 
ting them wider apart, and cultivating between 
them. If the hoe is allowed among them, it 
should be used with great care, as the roots of 
the young vines are easily loosened. Not a few 
maintain, that the best way is to take special 
pains at the outset, to rid the soil of all weeds 
and grasses ; then to set the plants one foot apart, 
when they will soon spread over the ground, and 
keep the weeds in check. When the land lies 
so that it can be irrigated, it is considered advis¬ 
able to do so several times a year, not only to 
furnish the plants moisture, but also to check 
their too early growth in Spring. An occa¬ 
sional flooding in April will retard the blossoms 
sufficiently to protect them from frosts. 
The cultivation of cranberries on upland has 
its advocates. Many even insist that the fruit is 
larger and better than that grown on lowland. 
This mode of culture has, at least, these advan¬ 
tages : that the work of tillage is pleasanter and 
healthier, and that the plants suffer less from late 
frosts. When one has no low marshy land, we 
would advise him to devote a portion of his up¬ 
land to this crop. No manure is needed in pre^- 
paring the soil. All the application required is a 
dressing of swamp muck, and perhaps a mixture 
of sand, if the soil is not naturally light and po¬ 
rous. While the vines will grow tolerably well 
on land dry enough for corn and potatoes, they 
succeed better on that which has a light, sandy 
surface, with a moist substratum. A stiff, clay 
soil, which becomes dry in midsummer, is very 
objectionable. 
Plants can be bought in any quantity, for about 
$5 a thousand ; and they may be set out, either 
in the Fall or Spring. An excellent mode of plant¬ 
ing is, after the ground has been prepared, to 
stretch a cord across the patch ; draw drills or 
make holes with a hoe, a foot and a-half, or two 
feet apart, by the side of the cord, and then follow 
with the plants, setting them out with the hand, 
like strawberries, and covering the ground about 
each hill with a little sand. With a little care at 
first, in weeding, the vines will cover the ground 
in about two years. When well established, they 
often bear from 100 to 200 bushels per acre. A 
rake, made on purpose for gathering cranberries, 
can be found at nearly all agricultural stores. 
The berries are usually sold at from two to four 
dollars a bushel. 
Among the drawbacks in the culture of this 
fruit may be mentioned, the injury from tire growth 
of weeds among the plants, from late Spring frosts, 
and from the attacks of a worm resembling the 
common apple-worm. But with all these, it is 
worthy the attention of farmers, especially those 
who have low, boggy land, unfit for other pur¬ 
poses. The food is wholesome and palatable, 
and always commands a good sale in market, 
both for home consumption, and for exportation. 
* 
- ^ - 
“All Flesh is Grass.”—A Western editor, 
speaking of one of his brethren of the quill, noted 
for his fatness, remarked that if the Scripture 
proverb, that “All flesh is Grass,” was true, then 
that man must be a load of hay. 
“ I suspect I am, from the way the asses are 
nibbling at me,” replied the fat man. 
-» « -» «» - . - 
“ What did you give for that horse, neighbor 1*' 
1 “ My note.” 
“ Well, that was cheap.” 
