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AMEBICAN AG-BIOU LTURIST, 
115 
Cranberry Culture. 
There is a healthful agitation upon this topic 
all through the northern and eastern States. 
Fungus as he discusses his roast turkey and trim¬ 
mings, in his magnificent dining room on Fifth 
Avenue, wonders at the small dish of cranberry 
sauce that modestly stands sentinel to his favor¬ 
ite bird. “Have diminutive side dishes come 
again into fashion, my dear! Havn’t had sauce 
enough at any dinner this Winter.” 
“ Cranberries, my dear, if you must know,” re¬ 
sponds Mrs. Fungus, “are six dollars a bushel, 
and not always to be had even at that. If we 
are able to have them every day, there are 
many respectable people who are not, and it be¬ 
comes us to set them a good example in house¬ 
hold economy.”—“ Go to grass with your econo¬ 
my, please, and enlarge the size of the sauce 
dishes.” 
Merryweather, the carpenter, has not seen the 
dish upon his table this season, and wonders if 
the turkeys ate up all the berries before they 
were sent to market. Jones, the farmer, raised a 
fine lot of them, but the price was so high, that 
he could not afford to keep even a peck for his 
family, and not a cranberry has gladdened his 
eyes since the Thanksgiving turkey sent up its 
incense upon his table. 
“ Cranberry sauce, wife! you might as well 
make a stew of gold dust, and have done with it.” 
An article coming so near to the almighty dol¬ 
lar as this, is well calculated to stir the blood of 
all Yankees, and fo* their benefit, we purpose to 
throw out a few hints appropriate to these cran¬ 
berry fever times. This fever, however, is not 
of the Multicaulis, or Dioscorea type. There is 
no princely monopoly of the vines, and they are 
not advertised at twelve dollars the dozen, war¬ 
ranted to be of immaculate purity, and imperial 
excellence. It has a solid basis in innumera¬ 
ble swamps well stocked with myriad plants, 
which are to be had in any desirable quantity for 
a mere song. 
Varieties op the Cranberry.— There are three 
distinct species of this fruit, the high bush cran¬ 
berry (Viburnum opulus) which belongs to a dif¬ 
ferent genus of plants, and is no cranberry at all. 
The (Oxycoccus Palustris) or European cranberry, 
and the Oxycoccus Macrocarpus ) or American cran¬ 
berry. This last is native to our continent, and 
is the article usually found in our markets. For¬ 
ty years ago it was comparatively little known in 
the market, and was rarely cultivated. The whole 
supply was drawn from the swamps, where the 
vines struggled in unaided rivalry, with bog hay, 
moss, and bushes. Some years they yielded 
abundantly, and the farmer generally sold them 
at about a dollar a bushel, which merely paid 
handsomely for picking. If there were years of 
scarcity, they were not much higher, for Fungus 
had not learned to prize them, and of course, felt 
no perplexity, whether the sauce dishes were 
large or small. They have had a healthy growth, 
and have fairly worked their way into popular 
favor, upon their own merits. Though not the 
greatest vegetable boon Providence has ever 
vouchsafed to mortals, they are very generally 
appreciated by all classes, by those of simple 
tastes, as well as by epicures. 
In the process of cultivation it has been found 
that there are several varieties of our American 
species, and quite likeLy sub-varieties, the result 
of hybridization. This fruit is entered upon the 
lists for improvement by our zealous amateurs, 
and it is not improbable that in the next twenty 
years the varieties will be as numerous as those 
of the strawberry, All the varieties of the Amer-- 
ican species, are much superior to the European, 
both in size and quality. While that remains un¬ 
cultivated, ours was introduced into England by 
Sir Joseph Banks, some thirty years ago, and has 
been received with favor. 
The Selection of Soil for a Plantation.— 
There is a difference of opinion among cultiva¬ 
tors as to the best locality for this vine. Some 
affirm that it will flourish and bear abundantly 
upon upland, while others claim, and they are 
largely in the majority, that it can be grown to 
advantage only on wet land. It is certain that 
the nati'e localities of the plant, are invariably 
either s n wops, or wet places upon the sandy mar¬ 
gin of pc,v.ds and lakes. It also has an affinity for 
salt, arm is frequently found growing in wet 
meadow*, near the mouths of creeks, in places 
just reac.ed by the highest tides. While the 
plant is isundaritly distributed in these swamps, 
it is found to be most productive in those locali¬ 
ties that jemain flowed during the Winter and 
Spring. Here the vines are often loaded with 
fruit, while others in dryer spots are barren. 
The plan does not blossom until quite late, and 
those standing in the water, are delayed several 
days in their blossoming, until the critical frosts 
are over. 
Cultivators have taken hints from these facts 
in the natural history of the plant, and have se¬ 
lected swamps that can be flowed at will for 
their plantations More attention has been paid 
to this crop in Massachusetts, than elsewhere, 
and the favorite localities in that State are upon 
Cape Cod, where the cultivator can have swamp, 
muck, aril sand in any desirable quantity. 
Preparation of the Ground.— Though the 
plant rejoices in abundant moisture, it is partic¬ 
ularly important that stagnant water should be 
avoided. The scum and slimy moss generated 
in such places, injure the vines, and finally de¬ 
stroy them. It is usual in a thorough prepara¬ 
tion of the soil, to give it surface drainage, and 
to remove all brush, stumps, and tussocks, and 
to cover it with three or four inches of sand. 
Though the plant will grow in muck very well, 
and sometimes bear fruit, the sand is said to pay 
abundantly by giving larger and more uniform 
crops The spreading of sand or coarse gravel, 
adds largely to the expense, but is not an insu¬ 
perable objection, where the material lies imme¬ 
diately upon the bank of the swamp. There are 
thousand; of acres lying near the sea shore, that 
nature events to have adapted to this crop. They 
only net,.: capital judiciously expended, to fit them 
into cranberry yards. It is said to pay well to 
expend four and five hundred dollars an acre in 
preparing the soil. All manures are worthless to 
apply to this plant. It asks only muck, sand, and 
water, to give the most bountiful crops in perpet¬ 
ual succession. 
To make the crop certain, it is necessary, es¬ 
pecially in localities remote from the sea air, to 
have the means of flowing the plantation at will. 
Where a small stream runs through the swamp, 
this is easily managed by a dam and water gate. 
Near the sea, the early and late frosts are so 
much kept off by the marine breezes, that the 
flowing is less important. 
Selection of Vines. —There is a considerable 
difference in the varieties of this fruit. The Bell, 
the Bugle, and the Cherry cranberries are dis¬ 
tinct sub-varieties, recognized among eastern 
cultivators. It is better to order plants from 
well cultivated yards, than to take them up from 
native localities. If you have confidence in the 
cultivator, you will need to give yourself no fur¬ 
ther trouble about plants. But if you choose the 
natives, it should be borne in mind that many of 
them are barren, and the stoutest, largest plant* 
have this distinction. It is well to mark the most 
productive vines while in bearing, in order t<s 
make a good selection. If you can not do this, 
take vines of medium thickness, or strength a 
stalk, and hushy leaves. 
Deep and Shallow Holes for Trees. 
Recently several influential writers have como 
out strongly in favor of digging the ground very 
little, or none at all, where trees are to he plant¬ 
ed, and several examples are given to prove the 
correctness of the theory. They are partly right 
and partly wrong, and the danger is that those 
who are generally careless, slip-shod planters, will 
take what is wrong, and keep on in their okl 
ways. There are three important points to be 
kept in view in planting out trees of all kinds— 
especially fruit trees. 
First. A portion of the roots should be so near 
the surface, and in so porous a soil, that they 
can enjoy air and the sun’s warmth. 
Second. Part of the roots must go deep enough 
to secure abundant moisture or sap at all times, 
particularly when the surface soil is temporarily 
parched by drouth. 
Third. The sub-soil, so far down as the roots 
penetrate, should be of good character, that is, 
it should have been so exposed to the action ol 
air as to destroy the soluble proto-sahs of iron, 
magnesia, etc. ; and also organic acids, other¬ 
wise these substances will be absorbed and act 
as poison. 
The most important part is to have the soil 
deeply drained, so that it shall not be saturated 
with water, which shuts out free circulation ot 
air. If a soil be heavy, cold, and damp, and the 
tree planter will rm., lake the trouble to change 
its character by deep draining, it will oe better 
for the tree, to cut off its tap-roots, and set it di¬ 
rectly upon the surface, covering its roots with a 
bank or bed of good surface soil taken horn some 
adjacent or distant locality, as the case may be. 
This in effect secures drainage. 
A better plan is to dig deep, wide holes, and fill 
them a little more than full with good surface soil, 
and provide for drainage down to the bottom ot 
the holes thus made. Then plant the trees only 
to the depth they stood in the locality whence 
they were removed. By this plan, a light open 
soil is secured. A part of the roots will then 
spread out near the surface, and enjoy the direct 
influence of air, warmth, and even light to some 
degree. Another portion of the roots will extend 
down into the good soil prepared for them, and 
in the dryest weather will there find abundant 
moisture to supply the large amount of sap evap¬ 
orated from the leaves and appropriated by the 
fruit. A much larger feeding ground is thus pro¬ 
vided, and the tree will flourish, and bear more 
abundant fruit. 
American Pears Abroad. —Among American 
pears, those - which have proved to be really good 
in England, are the Tyson, Seckel, and Moya- 
mensing. There, as here, the Seckel is made 
“the standard of flavor.” 
The Latin word for man is t nr. A little fel¬ 
low, who, like too many others, was set to study¬ 
ing the Latin language before he could scarcely 
use his own, astonished his teacher by the fol¬ 
lowing translation : ‘'Vir is a man; Gin is a 
trap : therefor virgin signifies a man-trap. 
“I presume you won’t charge anything for just 
rc-memlcring me,” said a one-legged sailor to a 
wooden-leg manufacturer. 
