AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
39 
(MBERRffiS—THEIR CULTIVATION. 
Details of a Practical Man’s Experience- 
I chose for the experiment a maple swamp 
on high land, containing peat (95-100 veget¬ 
able matter) from one to ten feet deep. We 
commenced draining it in June 1849, and 
having set a few vines for trial, we proceeded 
to cultivate corn and potatoes ; but finding, 
after 2 or 3 years, that we were obliged to 
keepittoo dry for cranberries, we concluded 
to set it all with vines, in order to flow it, 
which would injure other crops, and I have 
now nine acres of vines, mostly set within 
about 3 years. My mode of cultivation is as 
follows, viz : we clear up the swamp by tak¬ 
ing off the top, roots and all, to the depth of 
one foot or more, (which makes excellent 
manure for the adjoining upland) and having 
drained it by ditching, mark out the ground 
with the corner of the hoe, and set out the 
vines, which we have obtained from the 
common wild bogs, wherever we could get 
them ; and having dropped 5 or 6 vines in 
the hoe mark, stamp them in with the heel, 
and haul on some dirt with the toe, covering 
the vines about two-thirds up with dirt. This 
operation may be performed at any time of 
the year, when the ground is not frozen, if 
not too dry. It is then necessary to keep 
them clear of grass and weeds. 
I have heretofore thought that grass would 
not hurt them after the vines got well spread ; 
but I am convinced by this year’s experi¬ 
ence that they can not be kept too clean. I 
have one acre that was set 4 years ago. 
About three-quarters of the acre has been 
covered with rushes, and is now ; while the 
other quarter at one end of the lot has been 
kept clean. I have the past week measured 
off one square rod of the clean vines, and 
gathered two and a half bushels of berries 
from the rod, which is no more than an 
average of the quarter acre, which will be 
testified to by the gentleman who assisted 
me in picking them, as also by several other 
gentlemen who have seen them since, as the 
other berries yet remain on the vines. The 
other three-quarters acre covered with grass, 
has been mostly picked ; and although the 
vines are as large, I shall not get 25 bushels 
of berries from the three-quarters acre—the 
one yielding at the rate of 400 bushels per 
acre, the other about 30, showing the great 
advantage of keeping the vines clean. 
My meadow would probably have yieled 
100 barrels more this year, had it been kept 
clean. I pick my berries by hand, as I am 
convinced there is no advantage in making 
them. 
We have to pick after the rake, and I do 
not think the vines will bear as well the 
next year. I flow my meadow about 2 feet 
deep in the month of December, and keep it 
on until the middle of May, when I draw it 
down, leaving about 2 inches of water on 
the surface under the vines, as long as there 
is any fear of the frosts ; then keep it as 
near the top of the ground as I can. The 
rake also bruises the berry, and causes it to 
rot. I find the cranberry will begin to bear 
well from 3 to 5 years after setting. The 
cost of cultivation I shall put in round num¬ 
bers as follows, viz. Cost of land $12 per 
acre, cleaning $100, vines and setting $50, 
cost of cultivation $10 per year—for 4 years 
$40 ; total $202. But the top that we take 
off is worth $20 for manure, leaving $182. 
Interest for 4 years, makes $229.34 per acre 
My 4-year-old vines that are clear from 
grass, (say half an acre more or less,) will 
average 300 bushels per acre. I have been 
offered $2.50 per bushel above the cost of 
picking, which gives one a clear profit over 
and above the cost of land and cultivation on 
the half acre, of $260.33. I do not gather 
my berries until they are ripe ; for if picked 
while green, they are bitter and unfit for 
use ; although by spreading they may be¬ 
come quite red, still they are not worth half 
price. 
They may be spread on floors, or put in 
good barrels and piled on the north side of 
a building, until cold weather, w T hen they 
should be put under cover, in a cool cellar, 
or building, where it will not freeze hard. 
The berry will not be as red as it would be 
if spread, but I think it will keep better. For 
my experiment with the cranberry on up¬ 
land, I selected a piece of new land where 
the wood had just been cut off. I had it dug 
over with the grub hoe in the fall of 1849, 
taking out the loose stones and roots ; and 
having prepared 4 square rods, I had it 
drilled 18 inches apart, filling the drills with 
peat mud. I took the vines from a wild wet 
bog in the month of November, and set them 
about one foot apart in the drills. This is 
all that has been done for them, except to 
keep them clear from weeds for 2 years. 
In the fall of 1853, I picked from the lot 
2 bushels and 3 pecks of berries. In the 
summer of 1854, they bade fair to yield a 
much better crop, but were cut off by the 
hot and dry weather in August, and I did not 
get quite 2 bushels. 
Last winter the vines were killed, probably 
by the extreme cold weather, but sprang up 
again from the roots and bloomed very fully 
—but so late in the season that they have 
been much affected by the drouth, and I 
shall not get more than one and a half bush¬ 
el. The land and labor, w r ith interest for 
four years, cost about $1.25 per rod. This, 
as will be seen, gives a good profit; but the 
cranberry crop is uncertain, unless in situa¬ 
tions where they can be flowed in winter 
and kept moist. 
Varieties. —The folly of asserting that 
there is but one variety of the cranberry, can 
only be equaled by asserting that there is 
but one variety of the apple, the pear, or the 
potato—the former maintaining their pecu¬ 
liar forms, colors, and times of ripening, as 
distinctly as either of the latter ; the large 
white cranberry, on which there is nothing 
but a faint blush, (some of them being entire¬ 
ly white,) growing side by side with the 
small and entirely red berry, that is never 
one-quarter as large. So with many other 
kinds. Indeed, they vary in form much 
more than many distinct varieties of the 
apple. 
I have a large variety on my meadow, by 
getting the vines from all the wild bogs in 
the vicinity. I have several kinds growing 
in separate beds, and have marked several 
other kinds, which I intend to set by them¬ 
selves, in the Spring. I have twenty varie¬ 
ties put up for “ The American Institute 
Fair.”— Edmund Bagley, in Journal of Com¬ 
merce. 
KEEPING SWEET POTATOES. 
A. G., furnishes to the Dollar Newspaper 
his method of preserving potatoes, in which 
he says, “ I dig my crops as soon as the frost 
has killed the vines, so that I think they are 
done growing, endeavoring to do this where 
the ground is at least moderately dry. I re¬ 
move them in a short time, the sooner the 
better, to a cellar under my house, at the 
back of which I have a place divided off like 
a wheat bin, large enough for the crop. 
This is made by placing posts or studding in 
the ground, a few inches, and nailing the 
tops to the sleepers that support the floor 
above ; then put plank half the length of the 
bin, meeting at the middle post, twelve or 
fourteen inches wide, so that you can remove 
them at pleasure. When you commence 
filling take out all but one plank, then fill 
with potatoes until as high as the plank all 
over the bottom of the bin; then throw over 
dry sand, if you can get it, if not, dry earth 
will do ; sand is preferable because it will 
penetrate all the open places between the 
potatoes, and exclude the air—the great se¬ 
cret, I think, in preventing rot. Continue to 
add plank, and cover each layer as above, and 
when your crop is all in, cover over from 
four to six inches deep with sand or dirt. 
I never suffer potatoes to be exposed dur¬ 
ing the winter, compelling those who get 
them to grabble them out from the top until 
the dirt accumulates so as to be in the way ; 
I then scrape off a portion, leaving the re¬ 
mainder of the crop always covered. I 
have been using the same sand for fifteen 
years. One other remark is, perhaps, ne¬ 
cessary ; after putting up my crop during the 
warm weather through the fall months, I 
keep the door of my cellar open through the 
day, so that the warm air from the potatoes 
may the more readily escape. I have been 
using as fine potatoes, during September, of 
last year’s crop as I ever saw. 
Another correspondent has been quite suc¬ 
cessful in packing them in boxes, which are 
nailed up after filling the spaces between 
the potatoes with charcoal. 
Bear Grass.— The Pilatka (Fla.) Sun says : 
“ Dr. Sweaberg and another gentleman have 
been sojourning in our town a few days, on 
their return from an exploration of the coun¬ 
try on the river above this place. They se¬ 
lected this season as the most unfavorable, 
that they might see the worst condition of 
the country. The object of Dr. Sweaberg 
is to establish a number of German families; 
to cultivate the Bear grass and Sisal hemp, 
which he believes can be profitably culti¬ 
vated for cordage and sail-cloth. The Bear 
grass can be cheaply prepared by a chemi¬ 
cal process so as to be of very fine fiber, from 
which a very good quality of cloth is fabri¬ 
cated. 
