M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1857-01-29
agricultural.
Cranberry Culture.

LII SUI tluol bultdOl iOl thO SiN"'h
of ~cranberries, is low, wet, marshy
ground, on sandy or light substratum.
They also do well on muck or any
poor swampy land, where nothing else
will grow-they grow naturally on
Watery boys or marshes on the border
of streams and bitches, and by drain
ing wet land, and then taking off the
top of the ground to remove the wild
grass or vegetable matter, and carry
to the manure heap, then cart on.
beach or other sand to the depths of
two or three inches, to level the ground
and prevent grass and weeds from
choking the vines, and to keep the
ground loose around the plant. They
bear abundantly on marshes covered
with coarse sand, entirely destitute of
organic matter Of any kind, but ac-
cessible to moisture-on pure peat
covered with sand on every variety Of
soil except clay, liable to bake or be-
come hard in dry weather, on soil that
can DO worked with a plow or harrow
1t can be prepared as you would do
it for planting garden and other plants;
sometimes it can be burned over so
as to get in a condition TO set ont the
plants. They also can be raised on
moist loan, where corn and potatoes
will grow, but not so a%bundantly on
dry or sandy soil unless covered two
or three inches with muck Or spent
tan. A more simple mode where
there is hardly any thing but bushes
and boys, then strike q hoe into the
soil, and raise it a little to insert the
roots, and press the soil slightly with
the foot. Nominal or vegetable ma,
.nure should be used, as the irnit draws
most of Its moisture from the atmos.
phere. The poorer tho soil the less
cultivation is needed. Lay out the
grounds as you would for setting Out
cabbage, strawberry Of other plants
have a pointed stick or dibble, and
make a hole for the p%lant-have the
roots emerged in muddy water SC
thick as to adhere to the root place
it in the hole, and press the dirt very
closely around it. TO have the rows
uniform, draw a line and put the
plants eighteen by twenty inches in
rows-where small patches are de-
sired, which can be kept clean with a
hoe; the nearer they are together the
quicker they cover the ground /; but
where acres are planted, it will save
much labor by putting them two or
two and a half feet apart, then a pillow
or harrow can be used to keep out the
grass or weeds. After one or two
years cultivation to keep out the grass,
they will take care Of themselves
At eighteen inches apart it will take
nineteen thousand plants two feet,
ten thousand two feet and a half,
seven thousand plants to the acre.
They can be planted out in the fall at
the north, from Sept. until the ground
freezes, or in the spring until the mid
die or last of May. AT the south and
west, ~ifpossible, they should be plant
cd out in Autumn Or December fire.
ceived too late for planting out, the
roots can be covered with dirt in a
box or cellar--but not in the ground
ont o door--until early in the spring,
Where land for cranberry culture
can be overaowed--which is by no
means necessary-fall is the time to
plant. The first year they often bear
fifty bushels to the acre, and increase
every year, until sometimes they bear
from two hundred to three hundred
bushels per acre. They usually bring
from 50 to 81 per bushel--never less
than 50. Cultivated fruit is less like
ly to be affected by the drought than
wild fruit. One man, with a rake
made for the purpose, will gather from
thirty to forty bushels a day, with q
boy to pick up the scattering ones.--
Life illustrated.