New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1864-06-18
CRANBERRIES.

How and Where they mny be Grown by
CuItivation-Cranber Cultivation ON
Cape Cod-Their Production and Profit
ss a Crep-Usc Of Flooding Varieties
and How 10 Improve.
The Importance of Cranberry cultivation Is
Just beginning to be properly considered by American
farmers The subject is not new yet IT Is not generally
well understood. 1t has been leading feature In TIE
agriculture Of some Of the towns upon Cape Cod for
good many years, and It is proftably conducted by
few farmers in Rhode Island. Connecticut, New York
and souae other States. We have lately heard Of a
Western company which has or soon viii have. 100
acres of cranberry vines UNDER cultivation. Such com
panies need no information that give. Neither
do We expect TO instruct those who have already esao
lished cranberry gardens Our object Ia 10 exhibit
few facts that will induce others TO undertake the bnsi-
ness For this purpose have lately made Journey
to Cape Cod where we fortunately met with number
Of experienced cranberry growers and visited the plan
tatons Of severa-one who has IS acfes-and examined
the soil location mode Of planting. cultvatine food
ing and obtained few important facts. which we de-
sire that farmers all the country should consider.
We should have made our observations upon the
Cape more extensive II We had not unfortunately ar
which are almost the only drawback IN that sec
ton 10 ns being Of the most delightful parts
Of New England fer n country residence. In calm
weather the country is lovely and salubriou, Tho M
tive residents are remarkably healthy and longived.
True We did any quite old the houses they
live In many Of which have been built more than two
hundred years and look though they would last two
centuries more.
Whoever iuaginel Cape Cod only the residence OF
fishermen located In almost barren desert OF drifting
sand IA wonderfully mistaken. There are drifting
sands and uere IN several localities In other
parts Of Massscl usets and in Rhode Island and Con
necticut-ior instance, near Nowiiayen and also On
Long Island and n NewJerscy and so there arc near
Albany and around Saratoga and other places In New
York Just a much as upon Cape Cod. But here also
there are large Tracts Of good claycy loa which pro
dace good grass oats, potatoes and other farm pro
ducts and were it not for the cold storms there would
DO also good corn crops aud fine orchards. Asa gen
eral thing the situation is too bleak for orchards Bat
what 10 lacking In other fruit crops made up in Gran
berries which atlfcialy grown n greater extent
than In any other equal portion OF the world.
We tried hard 10 get correct estimate Of the area In
cultivation but found it impossible. The only approx
mate was a guess that there are 300 mon who send
cranberrcs 20 the Boston market and they have from
one fourth Of ~ twenty acres each. and the
area continually increasing eyeTyyoar An estimate
Of 2 900 acres Of vines is considered reasonable.
3 The cranberry culture Cape Coo Is chiefly In the
towns Of Harwich. Dennis, yarmouth, Barnsiable
Sandwich, and some other towns In the same vicinity
1t IL said that the idea Of growing cranberrcs AS
cultivated crop as many do strawberries bliokberries
and raspberries, originated In the town Of Dcnnit
nearly fifty years ago. and that 1t Tie result OF acct
dent similar ~ that which introduced the New. Ro-
chelc blackberry into such general The owner Of
natural cranberry meadow discovered that where the
sand lad drftcd over the wet sod, tho vines grew
freely and produced larger and better fruit than they
did in their original position lie also observed that
vines spread around TIE edge Of tho marsh pro
duced fine berries and this led him to think that they
might be artiGcially planted.
In another ease boy pulled up some vines on, Of a
cranberry bog and brought them home, and set them
In the sand the edge Of pond OF course lie was
told that's al nonsense; they won't grow there" Bu
they did and spread about and produced good yield
of fruit Stil il long time before any dared
10 commence cranberry culture business. II re-
quired brave man to make such m innovation upon
od.tne notions. Those who irst talked about it wore
derded visionary and those who first expended time
and money in preparing swamps and planting vines.
were looked upon by their ncighbors as wasting their
money And then. as In all enterprises, for lack
Of experience there were many iaurea. every one OF
which WIS seized upon proof positive that % Gran
berries cannot BE- cultivated and IL is I'll nonsense 10
try" A few persons kept trying. and come OF them
succeeded we'll that the most skcptica began 10 ac-
know ledge that there & something ia 1t amer All.
From What We learned during our visit we Judgc
that about the year 1910 the period Oi real earnc
commencement OF cranberry culture on Cope Cod. IL
had become fixed flct thaf swanp5 that were utterly
worthless could be converted into cranberry gardens
and become the most proGtaby productive portions oil
the country The quantity Of snch laHd reclaimed De
tween 1910 aud 1915 very grcu--so much 20 ,lnt
swamp lands rapidly appreciated IN value ana the ts
OF some that had had owner for FcncIatlon were
looked up and owncTs realized more money Tor teso
waste spots ihan their whole farms swanls Included
would have brought few years previous. No. there
tracts Of this worthless swamp covered with Gran
berry vines which worth q. 900 an acre.
Difficulties that looked nsnrmOuntable at Irst in
reclining swanps and getting them wen covered with
vines have been much easily overcome than was
anticipated. and years Of steady PERSEVERANCE, Win
failures and success have at length assured people That
a cranberry field DO established as certainly ns "A
strawberry field. with this advantage that 1t can be
established upon land that Is worthless for other pnr
posc and after the second year viii require much less
labor than field Of any other small fruit aud Afford
much more profitable crop.
Experience has proved that cranberres, though nat
uraly growing IN wet bOgs. can be grown upon much
dryer land. Some lnse succeeded In garden culture
Ii has been found whore growing naturally on the
edges Of . meTass that the Vince nchned Land