1863.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
335 
to exercise in rooting, by wiring their noses. 
A hard worked ox will never grow fat. The 
more work he does, the less will he lay on fat, 
the amount of food being equal; aud converse¬ 
ly, the less he works, the more easily will he 
fatten. Used in a “ liorse-power,” he may grind 
much corn; standing in his stall he may grind 
only that which he himself consumes. Labor 
is expended in both cases, and why may we not 
argue that the fattening of the animal is retard¬ 
ed in proportion to the amount of labor he does, 
and that the labor of the beast in grinding his 
own corn is thus a loss to the farmer. Cooked 
feed digests more easily than raw; that is, the 
stomach labors less. Do we not profit there¬ 
fore in cooking the food, even of neat stock? 
In feeding this class of animals the moderate 
fermentation of hay and stalks in connection 
with bran or corn meal and a little salt, where¬ 
by the stalks become softened aud the flavor of 
the meal and salt is disseminated throughout the 
mass, has been found a great saving. This is 
cooking without fuel. Steaming of fodder is 
extensively practised also, as is well known, with 
economical results where it is conducted on a 
.sufficiently large scale and with requisite care. 
Sheep are best fed on raw material. Let them 
grind their own grists. For some reason they 
seem to have better health for it. The exception 
does not militate against the rule, but shows the 
necessity of watching the effect upon all animals 
of artificial diet and unnatural surroundings. 
Cranberry Culture. 
Several subscribers at the West ask us for 
some hints upon the cultivation of Cranberries. 
We have published in former volumes of the 
Agriculturist extended details upon this sub¬ 
ject, and have now only space for the essential 
points.* As the cranberry grows naturally in 
low places, its most successful culture is prac¬ 
tised in similar localities. Almost any bog 
meadow can be converted into a cranberry 
patch with fair prospect of success, but the 
most suitable place is one which is so situated 
that it can be flowed at will, and yet be capable 
of being drained so that no stagnant water will 
remain. The soil should be surface drained ; 
all bushes, stumps, and tussocks removed, and 
the whole leveled as far as possible. The sur¬ 
face should be burned over to kill the grasses, 
and then cover the meadow with three or four 
inches of sand. If sand can not be obtained, it 
is recommended to leave the ground to the ac¬ 
tion of frosts for one Winter, after it is cleared 
and levelled. With regard to the vines, they 
may be purchased from those who already have 
good varieties in cultivation, or they may be se¬ 
lected from natural bogs where the vines bear 
abundantly. The cranberry, like all our wild 
fruits, presents considerable variety in shape and 
in the prolific character of the plants, and it 
will be useless to plant vines from an unproduc¬ 
tive natural sort. It often happens that the 
finest looking plants are shy bearers; hence, 
where there is any doubt about getting wild 
vines which are good bearers, it is safer to buy 
of those who have reliable plants for sale. The 
planting may be done in October and Novem¬ 
ber, or in Spring, any time until the last of May; 
where the land can not be flowed, spring plant¬ 
ing is preferred. The quickest way to cover the 
ground is to remove sods of living plants 4 or G 
* Those at all interested in Cranberry culture, will do 
well to procure one of the books on the subject, named 
In our book list in the advertising columns. These are 
not perfect works, but they are the best published as yet. 
inches across, and set them out from 2 to 3 feet 
apart each way. As the sods are apt to contain 
grasses and other plants, it is much better to 
break them up and carefully separate the plants, 
which are put in hills of half a dozen each, at 
the distance of two feet apart. The planting is 
rapidly done with the hoe, the principal object 
being to have the roots well covered. If the 
planting is done in Autumn, the meadow should 
be flowed so as to cover the plants with a foot 
or more of water, which is to be kept on them 
until danger of spring frosts has passed; it is 
then gradually drawn off, taking care to leave 
an inch or two of water as long as there is any 
fear of frost. The ground should be kept clear 
of weeds, by the use of the hoe, until the vines 
spread and get in the way of cultivation; as 
soon as they mat and cover the ground, they 
will kill out all other vegetation. The princi¬ 
pal enemies to the cranberry grower are, a worm 
which attacks the young fruit, and which is de¬ 
stroyed by flowing, and the rot, which is pre¬ 
vented by draining. The cranberry has been 
raised with more or less success on ordinary 
garden soils, though we are not sufficiently im¬ 
pressed with its practicability to recommend 
such culture on a large scale. A small plot may 
be tried as an experiment, and if successful it may 
be readily extended. The ground is first well 
pulverized and then covered with an inch or 
two of muck which has been exposed during 
the Winter, or with fine sand. The vines are 
put out in rows 18 inches apart, setting two or 
three plants together every 6 or 8 inches in 
the row. They should be set deep, so as to 
cover 3 or 4 inches of the lower part of the 
stems, and their growth be favored by keeping 
out weeds. The kinds known as Bell and 
Cherry are the best for upland culture, though 
plants may be obtained on the dry edges of a 
natural bog which will doubtless do well. Mr. 
Downing says that a piece twenty feet square 
will yield sufficient fruit for a family. The 
Cranberry cultivated in pots, is highly orna¬ 
mental as a house plant, as is very well shown 
by a fine specimen now on our Exhibition 
Tables, from W. II. Starr, of New London, Ct. 
A “ Community Gardener-”—Good Hints. 
[The following communication has been sent 
us by an intelligent and educated gardener, who 
has had large experience both in this country 
and Europe. With the growing taste for horti¬ 
culture in this country, it is quite time that gar¬ 
dening should be recognized as one of the nec¬ 
essary professions, or at least one of the useful 
arts, and we shall be glad if these suggestions 
shall help elevate those properly educated for 
this worthy pursuit to the social rank, which be¬ 
longs to them. In Europe the scientific horti¬ 
culturist is an honored member of the commu- 
nity. Sir William Hooker, and Sir Joseph Pax¬ 
ton, were both gardeners, and if we mistake not 
Andre Leroy has been knighted b}' the Emper¬ 
or of France, in acknowledgement of his contri¬ 
butions to horticulture.— Ed. Am. Agriculturist.'] 
“ It is frequently complained by those who 
have what they call a garden arid no proper gar¬ 
dener to take care of it, that they can not secure 
the services of one, notwithstanding the (as they 
think) liberal inducements they hold out to a 
competent man. What is the cause of this dif¬ 
ficulty, and how can it be remedied ? First of 
all, it is necessary that one attempting to secure 
a wcW qualified gardener, should have employ¬ 
ment for such a one. Next, he must be able to 
appreciate and to properly compensate him. In 
both these respects the majority of employers 
are lacking. A great many want to 1 hire a 
gardener ’ who have no place worth the care of 
a thorough gardener; either the whole concern 
is too small, or the 1 eminent amateur ’ cares 
only for something to eat. In either case it will 
be difficult to find an experienced and intelli¬ 
gent man, who has so little ambition that he will 
waste his time and energies in such unsatisfac¬ 
tory labor as taking care of these places, or be 
satisfied with the generally paltry ‘ wages ’ that 
are paid. The demand of the employers gen¬ 
erally is: ‘ I want a man of experience and intelli¬ 
gence , and one willing to put his shoulder to 
the wheel.’ Where do they expect such men to 
come from? America does not produce them, 
nor will there be any considerable number of 
American gardeners until there is an entire 
change made in the social position of the gar¬ 
dener, and a discrimination made between the 
qualified gardener and him who is merely one in 
name. The profession of gardener is certainly 
not an inviting one to young men, when they 
see how most employers treat those who are en¬ 
gaged by them; very few employers have a 
friendly word for them, all consider them on a 
level with the coachman, their place is in the 
kitchen, and their pay less than any mechanic; 
and all this, while they are expected to have at¬ 
tainments which can only be found in men of a 
certain degree of refinement and education. 
“ Most gentlemen who employ a gardener are 
men of business, but they do not seem to con¬ 
sider that it requires more knowledge and men¬ 
tal and physical labor on the part of their gar¬ 
dener to properly manage their countiy places, 
than is necessary to enable any of their clerks 
to perform his duties. Yet socially, the clerk is 
usually considered to be far above the gardener. 
It is the social estimation in which gardeners 
are held, and the personal treatment they re¬ 
ceive, that keeps young men from entering this 
branch of industry. It requires taste, talent, 
time, and money, to enable a young man to qual¬ 
ify himself to lay out grounds well aud then 
properly manage them after they are laid out. 
“As the demand for gardeners increases more 
rapidly than the supply does, or can under the 
existing state of affairs, I would propose the 
following suggestions as a partial remedy for the 
evil. I would advise several gentlemen living 
in a neighborhood to unite and engage a fully 
competent man as 1 Community Gardener ,’ and 
give him full charge of all their grounds, etc. 
They would in this way secure a uniform sj-s- 
tem of management—a matter of great import¬ 
ance to their fruit trees, which suffer most by a 
frequent change of hands, or rather of heads. 
A man like this being secured for general super¬ 
intendence, other and less capable men could be 
engaged to work under his directions. 
“ The advantages of this plan will be evident 
to those who have places too small to warrant 
them in keeping a competent gardener. In a 
community where there are large or small 
places, this having a common superintendent 
would not only save many vexatious and disap¬ 
pointments, but would be much more economi¬ 
cal than for each one to attempt to keep a gar¬ 
dener for himself. It would also 1 • a great sav¬ 
ing in the item of tools, as one set n ould answer 
for several small places; and these should be¬ 
long to the community gardener, whose interest 
it would be to have only the best kind, and keep 
them in proper order for good and speed}'exe¬ 
cution. I trust that this will commend itself to 
those who live in parks on a plan like that of 
the Llewellyn Park, at North Orange, N. J.” 
