Cranberry

CRANBERRY. The, Cranberry ( Vaceinium) is a native of bogs in various parts of the United States, North In the Northwest, there are vast tracts covered with the vines, principally in northern Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin and Min nesota. The species is highly valued for its grate ful acid fruits, for preserves and tarts, and large quantities are yearly sent East, and also exported to Europe. The principal wild varieties are occinium macrocarpum, or the large fruited Cranberry; V. oxycoccus, rather rare, with smaller fruit, spotted when young. In cultivation, the Cranberry will succeed in situations much dryer than when found in the wild,state. The 'ciiltiva tion of the Cranberry, of late years, has become an important industry in various States, where the climate and soil are adapted to its growth, and large sums of money have been invested in, the preparation and cultivation of the marshes, a situation where the beds may be flooded, or not, at will, being essential as a precaution against frost and the attacks of, insects peculiar to the plant. The chief difficulties in Cranberry culture are late spring frosts and insects. Among the more destructive of these are the tip worm, the vine or fire worm, and the fruit worm. Mr. C. S: Whittier, of Wisconsin, has furnished, to a late volume of the Wisconsin Horticultural Society, a condensed paper on the Cranberry, from which the reader can get defi nite information as to the management of the crop, and from which we extract as follows: The Cranberry demands a light, porous soil, that water can easily pass through; that will not bake and hold the water until it becomes stagnant. ' Hence peat, gravel and sand are each good soil for cranberries. Sand and gravel have the ad vantage of holding heat and will therefore sometimes protect a crop from frost. On the hand, peat will retain moisture the longest, which is a great advantage when there is not an adequate supply of water. Too rich soils should be avoided, as the plant then goes all to vine. On too poor soil it does not grow at all. J. J. White, in his Cranberry Culture, says: The best soil is an equal mixture of sand and muck; but I should rather have the sand on the top, to catch the heat of the bun, and the muck under neath, to retain moisture and furnish sustenance. In the spring of the year, when the blossoms are out and the new wood is very tender, there may occur a late frost that will not only destroy the blossoms but also cut off the new wood, and therefore prevent the formation of the fruit bud for the following year's growth. Such a frost will therefore destroy two years' crop at once. The remedy for this is to have the vines entirely covered with water and therefore kept from starting until the heaviest frosts are over; then take the water off sufficiently to let the vines start, but still keep some water standing, among the vines, so that • when the temperature goes down to freezing the exposed water will protect the blossoms and the vine. The theory of this protection is, that when the plant has frozen, the water in the cells of the plant expands in freez ing, and in thawing contracts, and this expansion and contraction breaks up and destroys the structure of the cells, and causes the death of the plant. If, in the immediate vicinity of the plant, there is exposed water, it will congeal first and throw off latent heat or, in other words, will absorb the cold in the atmosphere around the plant, and it escapes, in the same manner as water in a cellar will protect vegetables from frost. Early fall frosts will also destroy cran berries, but the riper they are the less injury they will sustain. The way to guard against these fall frosts is to get the vine started as early in the spring as possible, keeping water among the vines all tie time when there is danger of frosts, and harvest as early as possible. The Vine or Fire Worm (Anchylopera vacciniana—Fig. 1) is an insect that makes its appearance generally in June, and spends its short existence feeding on the pulpy part of the leaf of the vine. There are two generations of this insect each year. The last, being much more numerous, does the greater part of the damage. They will feed upon a leaf until there is nothing left of it but the frame work, or skeleton and, when they are numerous, will soon so thoroughly destroy a marsh that it will look red, as though a fire had spread over it, and hence the name, fire worm. The history of this insect is, that the moth deposits its eggs early in the spring, upon the vines, and they batch out the first generation of worms, and these, if not destroyed, feed a short time, enter the chrysalis state, and soon appear as a moth, which soon lays the second brood of eggs, and does the main damage to the vines. The remedy for this pest is to have the vines all covered with water during early spring (it will not do to trust to early spring rains). In my experience of ten years I' have never known of a case of destruction by this pest where the vines were absolutely all covered with water early in the season. If covering with water, after the eggs are deposited, would destroy them, then when the dam has been broken in spring and repaired, there should be no trouble; but we have known a number of instances where the furious ravages of this pest followed such breakages when reflooded. The Fruit Worm seems to hatch out inside of the berry itself and, after eating there until it has destroyed the berry, eating its way out, it enters another, and so on until it has destroyed a large number of berries. Some believe that a fly punctures the skin of the young berry and deposits an egg inside; others hold that the eggs are deposited in the blossoms and, as the fruit sets and develops,they are enclosed. Whichever may be the fact, we know that water will check its destructive powers. A heavy rain will sometimes almost entirely rid a marsh of them and, acting on this suggestion, we should flood the marsh suddenly, when the worm is at work, and then draw the water off quickly before it has had time to injure the vines or fruit. There is another class of enemies, however, that water will not control; plants• that flourish under the same treatment with the Cranberry, as the feather leaf and the rush. This class of pests must be fought on our marshes as thistles, pursley and other weeds are upon high lands, with the hoe, the spade, the knife, the scythe and the hand; that is, in any way you can reach them. The great requisites,

in the culture of cranberries, are a suitable soil, and an abundant supply of water under absolute control. It is comparatively easy to find the suitable soil, but to find it properly located, with reference to an ample supply of water, and get that absolute control is the great trick of the trade. The man going into the cranberry busi ness should first study his location thoroughly. He should go over it, around it, through it and across it, until every feature is familiar to him, and even then, though it looks all right to him, he should get some expert to examine it. If no serious defect is found, a reliable engineer should be employed to ascertain the comparative height of the marsh and the source of water. It will not be sufficient to calculate the fall, from the highest point at which the water stands at its source to the lowest point in the marsh, but the estimates should be made from the lowest point to which it will be necessary to draw the water, at its source, to the highest point that you want to cover on the marsh. This is to show whether or not, when th,e marsh is nearly full of water, and the water is drawn low at the source, there is still a fall oa to the marsh. When one is sure that he has an ample supply of water, with an absolute fall on to the marsh, and another fall from the marsh, so that he can drain it in time of flood, and flood it when necessary, he may then turn his attention to laying out his improve ments on it. No two marshes are alike, neither are any two sets of improvements the same, any more than any two mill ponds or mill dams are alike. Every man must keep in view the objects to be attained by the use of water, and shape his improvements to that end. He should first locate one or more main dams; the number, location, length, height, manner of building, etc., to be determined by the size, shape and inclination of the marsh, and the materials at hand to be used in building. These dams being used for winter flooding, their height should be sufficient to cover all parts that are to be flooded at all to a depth of one foot or upwards. Their strength should be in exact proportion to the depth of the water to be held,regardless of the size of the pond; but it will be well to bear in mind that the wash of the waves will be in proportion to the size of the pond. The next thing is to lay out what may be termed sub-dams; that is, small dams between the large ones, and so near together that the fall will not be more than from four to eight inches from one to the other. These dams should be built upon ground of nearly the same level from one end to the other, even though it should make them very crooked. In each dam there should be a waste gate, and the sluic•boards, in these gates in the small dams, should be very narrow. There should be a main ditch running entirely through all the marshes, passing through each dam at the waste gate; also a ditch parallel to each dam and just above it, and I think (this, however, I have not tried) there should be a ditch from just below each main dam, starting at the main ditch and run ning each way to the side of the marsh, and thence down on the outside to the next main dam below. There should be a waste gate on the upper side of the marsh, so arranged as to let the water on or shut it off at will; an ample ditch or canal to bring the water on to the marsh, and another to conduct it off. When these improvemenag, are made, the cultivator of a native marsW is ready to begin to handle the water; and now, a few words as to how to handle it In the fall of the year, when the vines begin to turn red, go to your upper sub dam and close the waste gate; let the pond fill until the water runs over the waste gate (not over the dam), and then you can see whether the dam is Strong enough. If not, now is the time to fix it. In this way proceed down the marsh, testing each dam before you fill the pond below. Next go to your upper main dam, close and watch and strengthen it, if necessary; and then to the main dams below, just as you did with the sub-dams. The strain on a dam is greatest when there is no water standing against Win the pond below, and if it will hold when the pond below is empty, it is strong enough. The waste gates should be high and wide enough to carry all the water off in a time of freshet, and not let the water run over the dam. When the spaces between the main dams are covered with water, sub dams and all, your work for the season is done. In the spring, when the heaviest frosts are over, open the main dams and let the water off down to the sub-dams. The sun will soon have an effect on the water and the vines, and those at or near the surface will start, and the water covering the vines will protect them from injury from frost. Gradually lower the water by taking out the narrow sluice-boards in the sub-dams, and the vines, which are very tender and easily frozen when first uncovered, will gradually harden; and more and more of them will start as the water recedes, and your marsh will soon be under way. If at this season there should be sudden changes of weather, and there is danger of frost, raise the water again, but lower it as soon as possible. When managed in this way, there will be no trouble from the Vine Worm, for the vines were all covered in early spring. If the Fruit Worm appears, close the waste gate at the head of the marsh, and collect, as soon as possible, sufficient water to fill the upper pond, then open the waste gates and let the flood into the pond below, filling it full, and so on until each part has been entirely covered with water. The next great danger, that water will prevent, is drought. If you have an ample supply of it, in a dry time, you can close the main ditch, just below each main dam, force the water out to the sides of the marsh, and then let it soak or trickle through the soil, back to the main ditch again, to be forced out at the next dam, and so on, keeping the marsh constantly moist. In the fall you should be weather-wise, if ever, for while the fruit is ripening, too much water checks its progress and, if there comes a frost, it is necessary to have a plenty of water to protect the fruit. When there is a change in the weather, and there is danger of frost, you should hold the water to save the fruit, and draw it off as soon as possible when the danger is over.