Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1879-05-16
Cranberries.


ties, but from the peculiar acidity
which they possess, rendering them,
even when eaten raw, valuable ton
ic. That variety of the plant known
from the Atlantic to the Pacific as
the common cranberry is designated
among botanists as the Faccinium
Orycoccus, described as n PROSTATE
under-shrub Astounding in alpine
Dogs. While the stems or trunks of
the plant are remarkable creepers,
they send forth erect branches which
flower, usually in June, and the
berry ripens in October. In plants
of vigorous growth, the blossoms are
of light pink and the berries, when
fully matured, of a bright crimson on
the side exposed to the rays of the
sun, though paler and often quite
white on the bottom. The soil best
adapted to the cranberry is pecu-
liar one, best Known among farmers,
perhaps, as swamp muck, and called
by agricultural experimenters, vege-
table mold. The cranberry has the
honor of being considered, by geol-
ogists, as typical of one of the earli-
est forms of vegetable life that exist
ed upon the earth, Thus it is found
associated with ancient peat forma-
tons, o fact entirely in harmony with
the peculiar characteristics which
accompany its growth. The roots OF
the cranberry plant are very fine and
short, capable of entering the finest
interstices of the network soil in
which they thrive, and thus drawing
nourishment from the earth where
other plants would perish. A piece
of land intended for cranberiies
should never be MANFRED, the origin
al, rank sourness of the native soil
being especially adapted to the ma
ture of this fruit. Enriching mix
lures added to the soil, will make the
vines grow vigorously, but they
will bear little OF no fruit. More
over, artificial manures would pro-
duce, in a year or two, such an
abundant growth of foreign weeds
as would be detrimental if not fatal
to the cranberry crop. If, from any
cause, the vines naturally grow too
rank, the best, and in fact only, prac-
tical remedy is to spread thin layer
OF dry sand over the marsh, every
year, Immediately after the berries
have been gathered. A covering of
sand one inch thick is all.sufficient,
and this operation should be repeat
ed, year after year, until the growth
of vines and berries are properly re-
lated to each other. A wild grass
meadow may be easily brought into
condition to raise cranberriesa by
flooding it, each year, till the grass
is killed, and covering it with clean
white sand three or four inches in
depth. The deeper the foundation
stratum of muck, the more sand it
will bear; After the grass has been
thoroughly killed, the cranberry cut
tings should be planted in rowsabodt
two feet apart; and in making the
hollows, enough of the muck should
be brought to the surface to keep
the cuttings moist until their roots
have found their own way well down
beneath the sand. By planting the
cuttings in the Autumn, just before
the rains set in, the viens will have q
great advantage over those planted
in the Spring, in being enabled to
become we'll rooted before the dry
term of Summer comes in. When q
cranberry patch has "run OUT" or
become Improbable, the sod should
be taken off and the soil exposed to
the frosts of Winter, after which new
cuttings may be planted with good
success. The American cranberry is
larger than the English and Of rich
er flavor. In the various markets of
the world, the three principal varie-
ties are known as the cherry, the bell,
and the bugle cranberry. Upland
cranberries are sweeter than those
raised on the lowlands, and this
greater abundance of the saccharine
principle makes them better fitted for
jellies and preserves, The principal
sources of the wild cranberries of
commerce are Cape Cod and Canada
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