THE GARDENING WORLb. 
1014 
Cranberry Culture. 
REVIEW AND PROSPECTS. 
The United States Department of Agriculture has just pub¬ 
lished a bulletin prepared by L. C. Corbett, the horticulturist 
of the Bureau of Plant Industry, which contains some interest¬ 
ing and useful information about the Cranberry and its culture 1 . 
The Earliest plantings of the Cranberry were made in the 
Cape Cod region of Massachusetts, probably between 1800 and 
1818. From a meagre start there' the industry has grown to 
one of first magnitude, and has been extended to eighteen other 
States, most of them north of the thirty-seventh parallel, the 
plant being indigenous south of that line only in North Caro¬ 
lina and Tennessee. 
According to the latest census figures more than one-half of 
all the Cranberries grown for market are raised in Massachu¬ 
setts. In this State there are 5,128 acres under cultivation, 
producing annually 598,906 bushels, or an average of 117 
bushels to the acre. New Jersey has the largest acreage of 
any State, 8,356, but its annual production is only 230,221 
bushels, or an average of 26 bushels to the acre. Wisconsin 
has 5,821 acres under cultivation, which produce annually 
11,098 bushels, or an average of 19 bushels to the acre. The 
industry in Oregon is only in the experimental stage, but that 
it is of great promise is shown by the fact that the average 
yield per acre there, 119 bushels, is the largest in the whole 
country. 
In New York State Cranberries are raised only on the shores 
of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The industry there, however, 
is also premising, 113 acres being under cultivation, which 
yield 10,877 bushels annually, or an average of 96 to the acre. 
Two species of Cranberries occur in this country in the terri¬ 
tory natural to the plant. The small one is the old-world kind, 
which is indigenous to sphagnum swamps in subarctic and 
alpine regions of both Europe and America. The large or 
American Cranberry is the best. It is a plant of low-creeping 
habit. The fruit is borne on short, upright shoots of the pre¬ 
vious season’s growth. The flowers are borne in the axils of 
the oval leaves, one to three or four in a place, which gives the 
fruit the appearance of being distributed along the stem. The 
mechanical devices used for harvesting are constructed so as 
to take advantage of this peculiarity. 
Structurally, both species of the Cranberry are closely allied 
to the so-called Huckleberries. Botanically, they are classed 
as merely distinct species, being grouped with Huckleberries 
and Blueberries in the one family, Ericaceae. Of this group, 
many of which produce delicious dessert and culinary fruits, the 
Cranberry is the only one which has been improved and exten¬ 
sively cultivated. It is also worthy of note as being one of the 
native fruits of America, which has become an important com¬ 
mercial product, and has won for itself a world-wide reputation. 
All economic plants show a. preference for certain soil and 
climatic conditions, and none is more exacting in this regard 
than the Cranberry. The conditions necessary for its culture 
are soils of a peaty or alluvial nature, located at high altitudes 
or in high latitudes, and provided with an ample and easily 
available water supply, and an easily accessible supply of sand. 
Where the fruit is indigenous to the soil it is safe to undertake 
the commercial cultivation of the crop. While the Cranberry 
is not a water plant, it thrives best on soils in which there is 
a constant water level within 8 in. or 10 in. of the surface, par¬ 
ticularly during the first three years of the existence of the plan¬ 
tation. The supply of water should also be sufficient, and the 
plantation so provided with dikes as to allow of flooding the 
area to the depth of 2 ft. from November to May in localities 
where it is necessary to 1 protect the plants from insects and 
from late spring frosts. 
The Cranberry is propagated by seeds only for the purpose 
of originating new species. Commercial propagation is carried 
on by use of cuttings or layers, 10 in. to 15 in. in length, which 
are secured from vigorous plants by mowing a portion of the 
meadows. A wisp of eight to fifteen stems is forced into the 
sand by a dibble, the blade of which, placed midway, doubles 
December 5, 1903. 
the cuttings upon themselves, and presses them firmly in the 
soil. After planting, the only cultivation necessary is to keep 
down the grass and weeds. This work, however, has to be done 
by hand. 
Although there is prejudice among growers against harvest¬ 
ing devices, a crop can be gathered by the use of picking rakes 
instead of by hand at a great saving of expense and time, and 
without injury to- the: plants'. After picking the fruit is win¬ 
nowed of leaves and branches, assorted by machines according 
to sizes, and stored until the market is ready, which is from 
six weeks to three months after harvest.—“ American 
Gardening.” 
Review of Book. 
Peach Culture. 
“ The Book of the Peach : being a Practical Handy Book on 
the Cultivation of the Peach under Glass and Out of Doors." 
H. W. Ward, F.R.H.S. With illustrations. .The Walter Scott 
Publishing Co., Limited, London and Newcastle on-Tyne. 1903. 
Price 2s. 6d. 
As expressed in the sub-title of this book, the author deals 
with the culture of the Peach in a very practical manner, in a 
book of 113 pages. The various chapters are referred to in 
the contents, and there is a list of 28 illustrations, consisting 
chiefly of woodcuts, with a few photographs. The illustrations 
deal largely with different forms of Peach houses, with fruits 
of several varieties of Peaches, and of samples to show the dif¬ 
ference between a freestone Peach and a clingstone Peach. 
Several illustrations are also given showing various diseases 
to which the Peach is subject, and for which the author fur¬ 
nishes remedies. 
The author has been a practical gardener for many years, 
and shows it in the practical way in which he describes the 
various structures in connection with the cultivation of the 
Peach under glass. It is seldom that a book of these dimensions 
goes so fully into the matter of constructing houses, heating 
them, and making provision for ventilation. All of these fea¬ 
tures in connection with Peach culture are of the utmost im¬ 
portance, but unfortunately the gardener who is called upon 
to do the cultivation is not always the builder of the house. 
For instance, in the heating of the Peach houses, the author 
furnishes the length of boiler required to furnish the heating 
power in houses of a given size, and also gives the length of 
4-in. piping required in a large number of cases. 
The author must have been an enthusiastic gardener if he 
practises what he advocates in his book concerning ventilation. 
He believes in fresh air for the plants, and in the case of late 
Peaches he describes it as good practice to open the top and 
front ventilators about eight o’clock in the evening, to allow 
a circulation of fresh air amongst the foliage, closing the ven¬ 
tilators at six o’clock next morning, before executing the neces¬ 
sary damping down and syringing. We can quite believe, there¬ 
fore, that he practises this, for many gardeners are very closely 
tied to their occupation at any or every period of the day. 
Chapters are also given on suitable compost for Peach trees, 
making borders, select varieties, Peach leaves, demand and 
supply, planting the trees, pruning and training, atmospheric 
moisture and temperature, setting the blooms, disbudding, 
thinning the fruits, packing Peaches, Peach trees in pots, Peach 
growing for market and marketing the fruit, Peach growing on 
open walls, watering trees at the roots, and other necessary in¬ 
formation in connection with Peach culture. 
In his article on select varieties of the peach lie names and 
describes 27 sorts, which seem a large number for any one 
establishment, but, no doubt, most gardeners have their pre¬ 
ferences, and would again make their selections. The author, 
however, gives a select list of twelve and six varieties of Peach, 
which seem to be selected in order to give a succession from the 
earliest to the latest ripening variety. The six varieties he 
gives are Alexander, Hale’s Early, Early Grosse, Mignonne, 
Dymond, Barrington, and Sea Eagle. 
The select varieties of Nectarine include 15 varieties, of 
which the six he singles out as the best for the needs of a 
private establishment are Cardinal, River’s Early, Lord Napier, 
Dryden, Pineapple, and Humboldt. We feel sure that all young 
gardeners would find much useful instruction in the book, and 
many others would, no. doubt, benefit by a perusal of it. 
