1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
847 
MAKING A CRANBERRY BOG. 
How Prepared and Planted. 
UTILIZING THE SWAMPS—The ignorance or in¬ 
difference which has permitted thousands of acres of 
valuable swamps to lie idle throughout the country 
is now being replaced by a general recognition of 
their worth, and an earnest desire for information on 
their reclamation. This is because many of these 
swamps, when properly prepared, become by far the 
most valuable part of the farm. No swamps, how¬ 
ever, will produce cranberries at a profit unless prop¬ 
erly prepared, and s me will not produce the fruit at 
all. Every profitable bog must possess three things: 
the right kind of a bottom, fairly good drainage and 
good sand conveniently near. Taking them in their 
order, we commence with the bottom. Any swamp 
that grows maple, laurel, cedar, huckleberries or wild 
cranberries is suitable whether of peat or alluvial 
bottom, but any swamp that contains alkali, oil or 
lime is worthless. Next comes drainage. This must 
be regulated so that the surface of the bog will be 
kept dry during the budding, flowering and harvest¬ 
ing season. Last comes sand. This must be abso¬ 
lutely free from lime, alkali or loam and of a loose, 
gravelly nature. 
METHOD OF PREPARATION.—The Winter sea¬ 
son is the best time to begin work on a cranberry 
bog. The surface is then frozen, and the wood can 
be easily cut and carted off. Brush and small trees 
should be cut close to the ground, but of the larger 
trees, it is better to cut them so as to leave about 
four feet standing. Having cleared the surface, there 
is nothing more to oe done until the frost comes out. 
Then a ditch must be dug all around the swamp, close 
to the upland, and cross ditches must be dug so as to 
divide the bog into sections of not more than 
three-fourths of an acre. These ditches should 
be deep enough to drain the swamp so it is suf¬ 
ficiently dry to work on. The surface is then 
cut into squares two feet each way, with a 
broad-bladed ax, and the squares turned bot¬ 
tom up to dry. The hummocks are leveled and 
the hollows filled, and all surplus turf carried 
off to the upland. The stumps and roots are 
now carefully removed. The large stumps 
standing four feet tall are quite easily taken 
out by digging around them and pulling them 
over with a block and tackle. Having got rid 
of these, the swamp is ready for grading. It 
is important that the work should be carefully 
done. The whole surface should be as level as 
a house floor. There are two reasons for this; 
first, to enable the builder to put the sand on 
evenly, and second, to make the harvesting 
easy. There is generally water enough in the 
ditches to get the level right, and it should be 
set as high as possible, so as to keep all the 
good material on the swamp. There is much 
more danger of getting the swamp too low than 
too high. A swamp that is low enough to be 
wet in Summer will grow nothing but weeds. 
THE SAND SURFACE; PLANTING.—Hav¬ 
ing carried out the above directions, we are now 
ready to put on the sand. Spread it evenly, about 
three inches deep, and throw out all stones as large 
as a hen’s egg. In fact, it is better to screen the sand 
if possible, for then you know just what you are put¬ 
ting on. The bes* time to set the vines is during the 
month of April, and if there is rain, so much the bet¬ 
ter. The vines are set in hills 18 inches apart each 
way, with about five pieces of vine in each hill. One 
end of the vines is shoved through the sand into the 
peat, leaving the other end to stick out an inch or 
two above the surface. There are many varieties that 
are good yielders, but if your swamp is located where 
frost comes early and stays late the Early Black is 
the best berry to grow. If your section is free from 
frost as late as October, try the Howe. There are a 
number of others that are good. The average price 
for vines is from $3 to $4 a barrel. It takes three 
barrels io set out an acre of swamp. Many powders 
and liquids are advertised to kill insects on the vines. 
Poison will not injure the fruit unless put on when 
vines are in flower, and each grower can safely use 
any that he prefers. The cost of making a bog in the 
manner described is about $1.25 per square rod. The 
ditches should be kept cleaned out so as to let the 
water flow freely, and the surface of the bog kept free 
from weeds. A little guano spread around each hill 
soon after setting is a great help. It takes four years 
to get a full crop, but the vines will bear some fruit 
the second and third years. A bog properly made 
should at the end of four years produce on an aver¬ 
age 100 barrels per acre. 
HARVESTING THE CROP.—If scoops are used in 
harvesting and a separator in screening it ought not 
to cost over $1 per barrel to market the fruit, outside 
of freight and commission. Some growers are preju¬ 
diced against the scoops, claiming that they injure 
the vines and waste the fruit, and that it is better to 
harvest by hand. I think they are “penny-wise and 
pound foolish.” For example, suppose a grower had 
a crop of 100 barrels, and by using a scoop, he dropped 
or wasted five per cent, which is a large average, he 
would lose five barrels of berries, which, at a net 
profit of $4 per barrel, would be a loss of $26. To 
harvest with a scoop costs 50 cents per barrel, and 
by hand $1.50, a difference of $1 between the cost of 
the two methods. He therefore loses just $80 in har¬ 
vesting his crop by hand. The scoop does not injure 
the vines at all, and is an up-to-date and strictly prac¬ 
tical method. If you wish a profitable bog, take good 
care of it. Don’t neglect it. Pull out all weeds dur¬ 
ing the Summer, and after harvesting, rake up all 
the loose runners and carry them away. Ten acres 
well cared for will give any man enough to do, and 
it will bring him a larger and surer income than 30 
acres of the best farm land. f. a. m. 
Avon, Mass. _ 
COM PEAS AND CRIMSON CLOVER. 
We sow Crimson clover every season in our corn 
at the last cultivation, about July 10 to 15. The result 
depends almost entirely upon the weather. If we have 
sufficient rain it will live along till the corn is taken 
off, after which it usually makes a fair growth. It 
grew nearly all the time last Fall on account of the 
protracted warm weather. An excellent place for 
Crimson clover is after early potatoes, where it al¬ 
most always makes a splendid growth. For best re¬ 
sults in our latitude (after potatoes) it should be sown 
the first two weeks of August. We sowed about three 
to four acres of cow peas last Summer, sowing them 
about May 12 to 15, on some very light, sandy ground. 
We cut them off with a mowing machine when the 
pods began to form, and let them remain on the 
ground. My object was to induce a second growth. 
They started up again very nicely, and I believe would 
have formed a second top, but we were compelled to 
let our cattle on to them. I think from the appear¬ 
ance of the ground that it will grow a good crop of 
corn next year, for that kind of soil. I believe that 
the cow peas will grow on almost any soil, however 
light it may be. w. h. k. 
Tennent, N. J. 
EXPERIENCE WITH SWAMP MUCK. 
About 25 years ago our home was located near and 
adjoining a swampy region. Some agricultural papers 
were advocating and extolling the great use of peat, 
and through them we were induced to get a quantity 
of it taken out. I believe it was early in November 
that we commenced work by digging and wheeling 
with wheelbarrows the material on to higher ground, 
which was near by; a certain quantity of air-slaked 
lime was used, and spread over the whole surface of 
the pile whenever eight or 10 inches of muck had 
been added to it. The following Winter, during the 
months of January and February, the entire lot was 
taken away and deposited on a sandy piece of land 
that had received a moderate dressing of stable ma¬ 
nure the previous Fall. It was spread about three or 
four inches thick, thoroughly mixed with the soil the 
next Spring, at which time it readily pulverized al¬ 
most as fine as the sand itself. Upon this land straw¬ 
berries were planted, which received good care and 
made magnificent plants, in consequence of which we 
looked for a heavy crop the following season. The 
results were more than satisfactory, and I have not 
as yet seen an equal crop of strawberries grown on 
sandy land, no matter how well enriched with stable 
manure only. We have at no time used peat without 
the use of lime, nor have we used it raw, but would 
not hesitate to do so provided that it had been exposed 
to at least one Winter’s frost before incorporating it 
into the soil. The effect of its use on sandy soil when 
used in liberal quantities, is no doubt beneficial, as 
it tends to change the texture of such soils, making it 
more compact and retentive of moisture [Also darker 
colored—Eds.] It is unlike stable manure in that it 
is very much more lasting. As to its actual value as 
compared with average manure I am not prepared to 
say, but as far as our experience goes it is worth a 
great deal more than it costs to get it out, unless it 
has to be hauled a long distance. The difference of 
opinion in regard to its use may be owing to the kind 
of soil that it is used upon, and also to the fact that 
peat is so variable in substance. In Holland, where it 
is largely used as fuel, its value consists in its weight, 
the lightest, of a flaky or rather spongy nature, being 
the poorest. The kind which is there known as hard 
turf is the kind with which we made our experiments, 
and is the only variety we ever used for agricultural 
purposes. John van loon. 
La Crosse Co., Wis. 
SEEDING LAND WITH OR WITHOUT GRAIN. 
I was much ‘interested in the letters from farmers 
(page 816) in regard to seeding grass with wheat or 
rye. I notice quite a variety of opinions on this, as 
on most other questions, due probably to the differing 
conditions with which different farmers are sur¬ 
rounded. With favorable soil and weather conditions 
I know of no better time for seeding grass than dur¬ 
ing the latter part of July or the early part of 
August, and if grass seed be sown at that sea¬ 
son on rich, well-prepared soil it will do far bet¬ 
ter without than with any kind of a grain crop 
sown for protection against winterkilling. Sown 
thus early, and with an abundance of seed, the 
grass will occupy tne whole surface before Win¬ 
ter, and make growth enough fully to protect 
itself through the Winter, even though there is 
little snow to blanket it. Seeding in this way 
a full crop of hay may be expected the follow¬ 
ing season, but if grain be grown with the grass 
the latter will be kept back nearly a year, if 
not killed entirely by the stronger-growing 
grain. It is not unusual, however, in my sec¬ 
tion of the country, for the weather to be far 
too dry for successful seeding in the months 
named. 
If grass is sown quite late in the Fall and 
the Winter following is open, so that the ground 
is frequently frozen and thawed, the grass 
plants are likely to be thrown out and de¬ 
stroyed. Under such conditions wheat or rye 
standing with the grass may have made suffi¬ 
cient root and top growth to hold the soil in 
place, and protect the more feeble grass plants 
from the unfavorable action of frost and sun¬ 
shine upon bare ground. But success is not in¬ 
sured even now, for the grass will have a struggle for 
existence all through the early part of the following 
Summer, and if the weather should be hot and dry at 
the time of harvesting the grain the grass would be 
pretty sure to be killed, or badly thinned out or en¬ 
feebled. For these reasons I long ago gave up try¬ 
ing to grow grass and grain together on the same 
land. If, however, the grain can be cut green early 
in the season before it comes in bloom, and while the 
weather is comparatively cool, the grass will stand a 
much better chance of living and doing well. In¬ 
deed, I have never lost a catch when the grain was 
cut and fed out green in May or early June. As to 
the choice between wheat and rye so far as the grass 
is concerned I know little difference. Either will in¬ 
jure the grass under certain conditions. Rye is the 
more hardy as a Winter protection in northern lati¬ 
tudes for late seeding. As green feed there is not 
much difference except that wheat is usually later, 
so I have raised both for a succession. Wheat seed 
costs more than rye, and in some localities is not apt 
to be abundant in market. The point I would special¬ 
ly emphasize is that grass sown at the best season 
needs no grain to protect it, but is better without it. 
Massachusetts. ___ctteever. 
Muck For Fertilizer.— I have never used muck or 
peat for fertilizing purposes, and should look twice before 
I used it clear or raw. On my farm I have a meadow of 
several acres where the black muck Is from one to four 
feet deep. This past season I planted some garden seeds 
on it without using any manure. The radish seed and a 
few squash seeds came up; the latter grew about three 
feet long and then pined away and died. Some of the 
radishes grew large enough to eat; others did not. It 
may have been due to the dry weather. I should not try 
the experiment again. In using muck for a fertilizer my 
way would be to have it thoroughly dried, put under the 
cow barn where the urine could soak into it, then work 
it over and use it In that condition. In value it would, 
in my opinion compare very favorably with other ferti¬ 
lizers. Q - B - 
Nashua, N. H. 
JAPAN GOLDEN RUSSET PEAR. Fig. 338. See Page 850. 
