1854. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Culture of the Cranberry. 
That is a trite old maxim which sayeth, “ A place 
for every thing and every thing in its place.” Were 
it added, that the place be under a shelter, the addi¬ 
tion would be an emendation. The fanner who lacks 
method has many places for every thing, and far too 
frequently places of full exposure to the vicissitudes of 
the weather. The loss consequent upon such exposure 
is no small item in the year’s account, and the loss of 
time , though too little heeded, will often engulf the 
year’s profits. 
The orderly arrangement and systematic conduct of 
all matters pertaining to the farm establishment is not 
only indispensable to the profitable management of the 
same, but is also a sine-qua-hon, with regard to the 
pleasure which is to be derived from rural life. 
Orderly arrangement leads to neat arrangement, 
and therefrom springs the sure beginnings of refine¬ 
ment and rural taste, which is a way-mark in the di¬ 
rect road to intellectual culture, honor, usefulness, true 
gentility, and a happy life. J. 0. K. Dryden, N. Y. 
“The Country Gentleman.” 
t. Tucker, Esq. —There is a debt of gratitude due 
every man whose mind grasps the wants of his fellow 
men, and especially is such the case where that man 
has the soul and energy necessary to the supplying of 
that want. In the establishment of the “ Country 
Gentleman ” a present public necessity was met, and 
we who have witnessed its success, and the vastness of 
its design, are not disposed to withhold the meed of 
praise due the projector of such an enterprise. 
The wants of man are not numerous. An All-wise 
Creator has supplied our necessities with a boundless 
lavishness, and nothing is left for us to do but appro¬ 
priate His bounties; but to do this effectually, mind 
wants aid, thought must be expanded—such thought as 
tends to enlarge our views and invigorate the dormant 
faculties. Farmers, who are the pride of our country, 
understand the force of such helps, especially those of 
them who have been constant readers of your paper. 
They are more than ever acquainted with the personi¬ 
fication of a true gentleman, and are beginning to as¬ 
sociate him with the soil. An intelligent, industrious 
cultivator, above all others, has approximated to the 
dignity of a gentleman. 
Proofs of the immense good that has been accomplish¬ 
ed through the dissemination of agricultural science 
can be easily arrived at, by going back with memory 
to the first issue of the “ Albany Cultivator ” Who 
will attempt a calculation of the amount of improve¬ 
ment made since then in the agricultural pursuits of 
our own state ? Who has the ability to compute the 
exact amount of manly, intelligent progress made 
among farmers 7 We behold the fruits of such efforts 
as are being put forth through the columns of the 
“Country Gentleman” and “Cultivator,” and in our 
hearts are thankful for their boundless supply of our 
mental wants. 
It only remains for me to add, by the perusal of 
your paper, I have been led to appreciate its merits, 
and esteem it a pleasure and a duty to recommend it 
as worthy the patronage of every man who wishes to 
be well informed, be he farmer or tradesman. A. 
Warwick, N. Y., Nov. 9, 1853. 
Messrs. Editors —Can you, or any of your corres¬ 
pondents, inform me as to the best mode of raising the 
cranberry for market. I have a piece of bog meadow 
(muck or black dirt) which is too wet for the cultiva¬ 
tion of grain, and which cannot easily be drained; 
and thinking the cranberry could be raised to advan¬ 
tage on such soil, I ask for information from you or 
your correspondents, and will be greatly obliged if 
you could inform me where to procure the plants. 
With respect, yours, &c., B. F. II. 
We are gratified in being able to give, in answer to 
the above inquiry, the following valuable paper on the 
culture of the cranberry, which we find in a late num¬ 
ber of the Boston Cultivator. Plants, can be procured 
of F. Trowbridge, New-Haven, Conn. 
John E. Howard, Esq., supervisor for the Plymouth 
county (Mass.) Agricultural Society, in his late able 
report, states that the committee appointed to consider 
the subject of the culture of cranberries, recommended 
that the first prize of $10, be awarded to Thomas H. 
Sampson, of Pembroke. 
His mode of culture is given as follows:—Having 
succeeded with great labor, in clearing the brush and 
larger wood from two pieces of low, moist swamp land, 
a deep vegetable soil; and having pared and removed 
the turf and tussoc stools from their surface, he pro¬ 
ceeded to set his plants. This was done in different 
years, commencing in the spring of 1846, and ending 
in the fall of 1852. It consisted in placing small 
square sods containing them, cut from a bog meadow, 
in holes dug for their reception, at short distances 
apart; .and then drawing the soil around in such man¬ 
ner as to secure the sods with their contents in their 
new position. This labor seems to have been perform¬ 
ed without any view to subjecting the plants to any 
subsequent course of culture, which they appear not to 
have received. 
Qf these two pieces of land, one exhibits the plants, 
more especially, in different stages of their growth; 
some having been recently set out, looking puny and 
feeble, and showing scarcely any runners; others of 
older date, looking stronger, with runners more nume¬ 
rously thrown out and extended. But of the larger 
part of those, and of all the other plot, the vines cover 
the earth as with a mass of net work, although they do 
not constitute the exclusive growth, appearing in a 
most healthy and highly vigorous state, and bearing— 
a spectacle gratifying, it may be supposed, to the pro¬ 
prietor to behold—a most luxuriant crop of sound, 
bright, sparkling fruit. 
One square rod of these vines, it is stated, produced 
six and a quarter pecks, being at the rate of two hun¬ 
dred and fifty bushels to the acre. 
The supervisor recommends the following mode of 
cultivating this valuable fruit: 
Select for the purpose a deep vegetable soil, pare 
and remove the turf from its surface, dress, if practi¬ 
cable, with fine sand, (not soil) or some better mate¬ 
rial ; set the plants, giving them fair working distance, 
and then for the space of two or three years use all 
diligence to help them to hold and occupy, not, in any 
sense, as commoners or co-partners with other products, 
but as sole tenants, which they will not be backward 
in seeking to become. I will only add, that if the wa¬ 
ters of any small stream near at hand can be so con¬ 
trolled as to throw a thin sheet over the surface, during 
winter, and, occasionally, perhaps, for a brief while, at 
other times, to refresh and invigorate its occupants, and 
prevent injury from frosts, which sometimes happens, 
it would be a desideratum connected with the object 
in view, of much importance. 
