Transcriber’s Note
  Italic text displayed as: _italic_




 Bradley’s Standard Fertilizers

   FOR ALL CROPS.

[Illustration: small flower]

  Bradley’s Superphosphate.
  Bradley’s Potato Manure.
  BD Sea-Fowl Guano.
  Farmer’s New Method Fertilizer.
  Bradley’s Complete Manure for Vegetables.
  Bradley’s Complete Manure for Grain.
  Bradley’s Complete Manure for Grass.
  Bradley’s High Grade Tobacco Manure.
  Bradley’s Ground Bone and Potash.
  Bradley’s Fruit and Vine Fertilizer.
  English Lawn Fertilizer.
  Pure Fine Ground Bone and Bone Meal, Etc.

[Illustration: small flower]


            _BRADLEY FERTILIZER COMPANY’S PUBLICATIONS._

  BRADLEY’S AMERICAN FARMER, Illustrated. A concise treatise on
  growing all farm crops.

  TOBACCO, Illustrated. How to grow, cure and market cigar wrapper
  tobacco.

  BRADLEY’S FLORIDA BOOK, Illustrated. A treatise on growing Florida
  crops, and a description of our fertilizers prepared especially for
  that trade.

  THE LAWN AND GARDEN. Hints on how to secure and keep a beautiful
  lawn and a flourishing garden.

  THE CRANBERRY, Illustrated. Suggestions as to the preparation of
  bogs and selection of berries, modes of cultivation, picking,
  shipping, &c.

       Any of the above publications sent free upon request to


  Bradley Fertilizer Company, Boston, Mass.
      Branch Offices: Rochester, N. Y.    Augusta, Ga.




                            The Cranberry

    _PUBLISHED BY_
  BRADLEY FERTILIZER CO.
        BOSTON

[Illustration: PICKING CRANBERRIES ON THE OLD COLONY CO.’S CRANBERRY
BOG AT SOUTH YARMOUTH, MASS.]

  WEST DENNIS, Mass., Oct. 19, 1891.

  Having had the superintendency of preparing and setting to vines
  what is called the “Old Colony cranberry bog,” which contains
  about 25 acres, I have had occasion to use the different kinds of
  commercial fertilizers sold on the market, and of them all I now
  use the Bradley.

  It has proved a great help in starting our new vines, giving them a
  vigorous growth and bringing the bog into bearing much earlier than
  would have been the case had Bradley’s fertilizer not been applied.

  We think very highly of your fertilizer, and recommend its use
  by cranberry-growers generally. The photograph you have of our
  cranberry bog will give some idea of what we are doing.

    REUBEN BAKER, _Sup’t._
    R. A. BAKER, _Treas._


           _Copyrighted by Bradley Fertiliser Co., 1892._




                           The Cranberry.


This book is not intended to be a scientific or elaborate treatise
upon the Cranberry, but rather a book of practical suggestions, and
a summary of helpful hints that may prove of benefit to those who
undertake to grow this fruit.

The methods of growing Cranberries vary with localities and growers,
and are undoubtedly in an experimental state at the present time. The
original Cranberry grower was the owner of some wild and uncultivated
patch where, in a natural condition, the berries (receiving no
attention until picking time) were gathered “at halves,” meeting
little or no market beyond the limits of the locality in which they
grew.

The modern grower has found the application of improved methods of
cultivation and fertilization to pay liberally with the Cranberry,
as with every other crop, and it should be his endeavor, through all
available methods, to reduce the cost of growing and increase the
yield of berries per acre, giving special attention to such culture
as may the better secure the _keeping quality_ of the fruit.

In order to do this, the grower may have to lay aside his
preconceived notions as to the best methods of growing and
fertilization, and possibly even discard some which have in years
past been approved by leading growers. By a careful selection of
varieties best adapted to each particular locality, or frequently
by a larger increase in the depth of sand upon the bog, and then by
the greatest care in all that pertains to the picking and packing
of the fruit, he will be enabled to maintain for the Cape berries a
foremost reputation as “keepers” among those who handle this valuable
crop. Too little attention has heretofore been paid to this essential
feature, and quantity rather than quality has been sought. When
secured, the berries, as a general thing, are hurriedly packed at the
bog, usually warm from the vines, and so, oft-times, they are almost
ruined before reaching a market. This practice is largely responsible
for the prejudice of some dealers against Cape berries.

Again, improved methods of cultivation by which an increased
production, with improved quality, may be secured, are certainly
desirable to every individual grower; though the present enormous
crop would hardly seem to warrant a larger acreage, yet, at the same
time, it behooves every grower to make as productive as possible (in
view of the great expenditure) each acre already under cultivation.

The matter here presented is the result of thorough investigation
into the methods of cultivation as practised by the most successful
growers, and we believe it presents facts to the grower which will
prove well worthy of his careful attention.

                                               BRADLEY FERTILIZER CO.




                              THE BOG.


It is popularly supposed that the Cranberry flourishes upon Cape
Cod because of the salt sea sand of which the Cape is so largely
composed. This theory, however, is erroneous, as it has been proved
that even on Cape Cod the Cranberry will not flourish except under
certain other favorable conditions.

The first inquiry, then, is, What kind of land is preferable for a
bog? The best growers select a laurel, maple, or cedar swamp, so
situated that it can be easily flowed with water at any time when
this may seem necessary. They select a swamp in preference to a
meadow, because it is found in practice that a meadow always produces
considerable coarse grass detrimental to the crop, which does not
grow in the swamps.

Again, it is proved that a swamp on which wood has grown has a better
bottom than the average meadow, as it is largely composed of decayed
foliage, which has for many years dropped from the trees, and has
gradually become a rich, friable soil, usually free from either weeds
or grass.

Some growers believe that it is not essential to have the bog so
situated that it can be covered by water; but, while there are some
very fine dry Cranberry bogs of this description, if an early frost
or the fire-worm strikes the crop at a vital time, it causes an
entire failure, which could have been prevented had there been a
chance of promptly flowing the bog.




                        HOW TO PREPARE A BOG.


The Cranberry bog is usually prepared in late fall, winter, or early
spring, when the ground is partially frozen, as it is more easily
cleared at this time, and cheaper labor is obtainable.

The first step in preparing the bog is to mow off, with a bush
scythe, all the small brush and undergrowth. We are then ready to
get rid of the trees. Experience has proved that the cheaper way is
to cut the roots of the large trees, and then by means of tackle,
in case they do not fall by their own weight, pull them over to the
ground. This saves many days’ labor, which would be necessary if the
trees were cut down above the ground and the stumps then dug out.

The refuse materials should be gathered into heaps, and, when dried,
burned upon the bog; but great care is necessary in burning not to
allow the moss and turf, of which the bog is composed, to get on
fire; for when once fairly started, it is nearly impossible, except
by flowing the bog, to extinguish the flames.

These first steps in clearing the bog must be done in the best
possible manner, preferably by day labor, under the direct care of
a watchful foreman, as the ultimate success of the Cranberry bog
depends very largely upon the thoroughness with which all of the tree
and bush roots are removed.

After the surface of the bog has been thoroughly cleaned off, it
is cut into squares, about eighteen inches across, by means of a
turf-axe, which is a thin, hatchet-shaped bladed implement, with a
stout, hickory handle, about thirty inches long. This axe is utilized
for cutting the tough, undergrowing roots, sure to be found just
below the surface of the soil.

The usual method is to cut across the bog in parallel lines eighteen
inches apart, and again at right angles in parallel lines in the same
manner, thus leaving the turf in square blocks about eighteen inches
square. Two men with long-handled, four-pronged bog-hooks follow
the cutters, pulling over the turf, which, after the ditching is
finished, should be chopped up, and so rendered suitable for making
the surface as smooth as possible, when the work of final grading is
completed.

We are now ready for ditching; the manner and methods necessary to
secure the best possible drainage being subject, of course, to such
varied conditions as to render it difficult to describe. But if there
were but three essential features of special importance, two of them
would be drainage.

All of the ditches should be dug with flaring banks, so as to prevent
caving in of the sides of the ditch, and thus making constant
trouble. A ditch, in any case, around the entire bog is an essential
feature in drainage, and to carry-off the cold surface water, as well
as a preventive of much difficulty in cultivation, etc.

If the ditches are thoroughly well made they will need but little
repairing or cleaning, and here as elsewhere in preparing the bog the
most careful attention on the part of the superintendent will prove
the cheapest in the end.

After the ditches are completed, the bog must be graded until it is
as smooth and level as a lawn. In grading the bog the levels must
be run in such a manner that it can be easily flooded with water,
since sometimes it may be desirable to do this as expeditiously
as possible, and the necessary arrangements to do this should be
provided at this time.

       *       *       *       *       *

                                 NORTH HARWICH, MASS., Oct. 19, 1891.

  I have been in the habit of using Bradley’s Fertilizer on my
  cranberry bogs for a number of years, and consider it very
  beneficial. It pushes the new vines along to a bearing condition
  much earlier than would be the case if left to depend on the
  natural strength of the soil, and by covering the ground quicker
  with vines the grass and brush are not so likely to get a start.

  It also does well on old vines, increasing the crop, and the size
  and quality of the berry. Last spring, to my sorrow, I neglected to
  apply this phosphate to my old bog, and on gathering my crop this
  fall I found I had made a great mistake. Shall use it another year,
  without fail.

                                                       BENJ. F. HALL.

       *       *       *       *       *

                                   HARWICHPORT, MASS., Oct. 19, 1891.

  I have used Bradley’s Fertilizer for growing cranberries, and find
  it very beneficial. New vines come to bearing one year earlier by
  its use, and grass and weeds are crowded out, and do not get the
  foothold they are apt to where vines grow slowly, and are a long
  while covering the ground.

  Cranberry growers in this section are finding it greatly to their
  interest to use Bradley’s Fertilizer on their bogs, both new and
  old.

  About the 1st of June, 1891, I put on 100 pounds of Bradley’s
  Fertilizer on about 60 rods of late vines, set out 20 years ago. On
  the other side of the ditch were 60 rods of vines, the same age,
  both done by the same man; in other words, the same conditions
  exactly, except the Fertilizer. This year I gathered both pieces.
  The piece to which I applied 100 pounds of Fertilizer yielded 8
  barrels of cranberries, the other, barely 1 barrel.

                                                         E. B. ALLEN.




                              THE DAM.


A dam must be built at the lower end of the bog, in such a manner
as seems necessary from the location and force of the water running
through the main ditch. If the main ditch is a brook which carries
a large amount of surplus water, the dam must be very strongly and
thoroughly built; but if, on the other hand, it is simply a ditch
filled by springs or small brooks found in the bog, a simple dam can
be thrown up at slight cost; although care must be taken to make
it strong enough, so that the high water in winter or spring will
not carry it away and leave the vines unprotected from the frost.
If the bog is of large size, and a large amount of water is needed,
of course a larger and more substantial dam must be built. The
accompanying illustration gives a section of a turf dam, preferably
about fifteen feet wide at the bottom by ten feet at the top,
constructed of turf, and sand or clay, in such a manner as to be
absolutely safe.

It will be seen that the walls slope from the foundation to the top,
and are composed outside of layers of turf, so laid one upon the
other that the joints are broken and a solid wall is made, between
which is filled in a mass of stone, clay, and sand, thoroughly tamped
down so as to make a firm structure in the centre of the dam. At the
end of the main ditch should be constructed a water-course or flume,
preferably of two-inch plank, with a waste-gate that can be raised or
lowered as the supply of water may be needed or allowed to run to
waste. This is simply made of plank, with an oak joist for a lever,
which, used as a pry, easily opens the gate.




                            THE SANDING.


The sand used on a Cranberry bog should be absolutely free from
either clay or loam, for if it contain either it will, in the one
case, under the action of sun and water, form a hard surface in which
the vines will not thrive, or in the other, if there is much loam
intermixed, it will contain weed seeds, which will prove a detriment
to the bog. Sand can generally be found in the immediate vicinity of
the bog, and should preferably be coarse rather than fine in quality.

To spread the sand over the bog, lay down a course of plank, over
which the sand can be wheeled in barrows and so dumped, from this
plank-walk, as to make the level spreading thereof a matter of little
labor; shift the plank about four feet from that portion already
covered, and dump to right and left as before; enough should be
brought on to give an even coating of from four to five inches, and
it may be smoothed by a lawn rake, or a leveller made of one-inch
board, about a foot and a half long, by three or four inches wide,
with a rake handle fastened in the centre of the board.

When the sand has been evenly spread over the bog, it is ready to
be marked off. This is generally done by using an improvised rake
or “marker,” made of a piece of 2 by 4 inch joist, seven to ten feet
long, with white-oak teeth eight inches long, set eighteen inches
apart, the whole finished with a handle for easy working. This rake
is usually run parallel with some straight ditch, or along one side
of a bog in a straight line, so that when set in vines it may present
a uniform appearance. But as, in the case of corn, “more grows in
crooked rows than straight ones,” this may be left to taste and
convenience; again cross-marking at right angles, and you are ready
for setting the vines.

       *       *       *       *       *

                                        NEWPORT, R.I., Oct. 26, 1891.

  I have used Bradley’s Fertilizer on my cranberry bog twice, and
  find a great improvement in checking the growth of moss, also
  in starting the vines. In fact, I think it made the vines grow
  too fast, or I may have put on too much. I can recommend it as a
  first-class Fertilizer.

                                                  H. B. RYDER,
                                                      17 Harvard Ave.

       *       *       *       *       *

                                 NORTH HARWICH, MASS., Oct. 19, 1891.

  I have used Bradley’s Fertilizer on my cranberry bogs, both old
  and new, the past three or four years, with highly satisfactory
  results. It adds to the growth of new vines, so that they cover the
  ground quicker, and come into bearing one or two years earlier than
  they would were there no fertilizer applied.

  On my old vines the effect of this Fertilizer has been to kill out
  the moss (burn it up, to appearance), and to so renew the vines as
  to give them the look of a young bog.

                                                       JOHN E. RYDER.


[Illustration: VIEW OF CRANBERRY BOG OWNED BY CAPT. E. K. CROWELL,
DENNISPORT.]

                                            DENNISPORT, Mar. 2, 1892.

  I have used Bradley’s Fertilizers for a number of years on
  cranberry vines, both old and new, with good and satisfactory
  results. The fruit will generally be larger and fairer where it
  is used, and used on young vines will cause them to spread and
  shade the ground, thus preventing as large a growth of weeds. I
  cheerfully recommend it to all cranberry growers.

  The foreground shows vines set in the spring of 1890; the
  background on the right new bearing bog, and on the left, a small
  showing of vines set in spring of 1891.

                                                       E. K. CROWELL.




                           THE BEST BERRY.


There is a wide division of opinion in regard to what is the best
berry to grow; the shrewdest growers find that a selection of
berries, running from the very early to the very late berry, gives
the best returns when a series of years is taken into account.

By common consent the purple-black berry, called “Early Black,” has
been the favorite with both growers and consumers, as its handsome,
rich coloring made it a good seller, while it is also a very prolific
berry. It is a medium-hard berry, and for bogs which are liable to be
infested with the fire, fruit, or span worm it seems preferable, as
the bog can be kept under water until as late as the first or middle
of June, and these berries will then, in an average season, ripen
before frost. It is, however, pretty well conceded by many growers
that this berry has been of great injury to the business as a whole,
since it is one of the poorest of keepers, and, while affording
profit for the time to the grower, has been of such loss to the
“middleman,” as to render him unduly cautious of Cape Cod berries.
This reputation which has attached itself to the Cape crop is wholly
unwarranted by a careful and intelligent investigation of the many
and various conditions which govern this, the most important feature
of the whole business.

The “A. D. Makepeace” berry is the outcome of a berry found by
its namesake, the largest grower in this country, and gradually
cultivated until it is conceded to be the largest early berry in the
market, and as such commands a high price. It is of cherry shape, and
rose-tinged purple in coloring. Illustration No. 1 is a fair example
of the shape of this berry.

The “James Anthony” is a very good variety of the second early
berries, and by some considered among the best keepers of the
medium-early berries.

The “Bachelor” is a larger berry, and, like the “J. P. Howes,” proves
to be a fair keeper and a salable berry, although the Howes is more
even and regular in size.

The “McFarland” is a dark-red, handsome berry, of large size, and a
favorite with a few large growers.

The “Bugle” or “Chipman” is an older berry, and one of the best
keepers, but not as productive as some others.

The six varieties mentioned are the most popular grown. Some others
may have a local reputation, which time and attention will bring into
favorable notice. Local conditions have much to do, however, with
qualities in all cases.

       *       *       *       *       *

                                   HARWICHPORT, MASS., Oct. 20, 1891.

  I have used Bradley’s Fertilizer for a number of years on
  cranberries, both on newly set vines and old vines. I apply it
  broadcast, and I find it pays well. I can recommend it to be a good
  investment, causing more and larger fruit.

                                                    WATSON B. KELLEY.




                            THE PLANTING.


The Cranberry is propagated, through the means of vines which are
procured from old bogs; they are cut or mowed off, preferably from
vines not more than three or four years old. In sorting these
cuttings, care should be taken to remove all the dead wood, and only
the bright, clean cuttings used for planting. Most growers estimate
five barrels of cuttings to the acre of bog, as they use from four
to six cuttings in each setting. Some growers prefer taking runners
twenty to thirty inches in length, and doubling them over at time of
planting; but the former seems to be the generally adopted method.

The usual method of planting is by using a “dibble,” or
setting-blade, made from hard wood, although one of the shrewdest
growers has recently adopted an implement consisting of an iron
blade, with a cross-piece handle of wood. He claims that this is
far preferable to any wooden instrument, and always readily presses
through the sand, although it is not sharp enough to cut the vines.

In planting, a bunch of four or six runners is placed upon the sand
at every intersecting corner. This bunch is held in the left hand of
the planter, while with his right hand he presses them into the sand
by means of the “dibble,” so that they will reach through to the soil
beneath, and when planted will not come above the surface more than
two inches. The accompanying sketch shows the method of planting.

[Illustration:

  A A is the main ditch encircling the bog.
  B B is the central ditch.
  C C are the cross-ditches draining into main and central ditches.
  D D are the lines made by the marker.
  E E show points at which plants are set.
]

About two weeks after the cuttings are set, a small handful of
Bradley’s Superphosphate should be scattered around each bunch of
cuttings, as this will cause them to grow with great vigor, and so
stimulate their growth that few if any of the cuttings will die;
sometimes not one in a hundred will fail to make a flourishing set.
It is a little more work, but advisable, to put the fertilizer in the
hill, just under the sand.

Some growers prefer, after the bog is planted, to keep the ground
wet by damming back the water to within six or eight inches of
the surface of the bog, and keeping it here until the vines give
signs of having made some growth. The water is then let out of the
ditches, and the vines take care of themselves through the ensuing
season, unless it happens to be a particularly dry summer. If so,
once or twice, through the dryest of the season, the water should
be dammed back for a few days, and the vines receive the benefit
of the irrigation. They will not need any further care during the
first season, unless there is a growth of weeds, which should be
effectually destroyed.

A cleanly, well-kept bog is not only a beautiful sight, but is the
foundation for large returns in the future; it requires no little
care, during the first year or two, on the best of bogs to secure the
proper money return, in order that the unavoidable outlay heretofore
outlined may be rendered remunerative. Four hundred dollars per acre
is no unusual amount to be expended in preparing a bog.




                           FERTILIZATION.


Until within a few years the Cranberry bog has had to depend upon its
own resources for fertilization, as it was popularly supposed that a
bog contained all the necessary nutriment to feed the growing crop.
Careful investigation by the most successful growers has led them to
believe that, in common with every other farm crop, a larger crop of
finer quality of fruit can be grown per acre, if a good commercial
fertilizer is used upon the Cranberry. They therefore commence with
the plant when set out, and scatter a small quantity of fertilizer
around each plant in setting, as we have before suggested on page 17;
and each year thereafter they sow broadcast over the bog from 200 to
400 pounds of Bradley’s Superphosphate to the acre. The result is
that a larger crop of richer-colored berries is secured, which will
more successfully withstand handling and shipping. The vines are also
so stimulated that the crop ripens much earlier, and very often a
saving of hundreds of dollars will be made, through the grower being
able to gather the berries early in the season, before the frost
comes.

On old bogs, which are partially run out, the influence of a liberal
dressing of Bradley’s Superphosphate is very marked, as it gives the
vines a fresh supply of needed food, and brings ample returns the
first season in largely increased crops of berries.

So marked is this effect, that if any one having a Cranberry bog will
fertilize a small section of it for one season, at the rate of 200
to 400 pounds of Bradley’s Phosphate to the acre, he will always use
this fertilizer thereafter, as the results will readily prove that it
will pay him liberally to do so.

Another reason for fertilization is, that, through a liberal use of
Bradley’s Superphosphate, the young plants attain that sturdy growth
which enables them to withstand more successfully the attacks of the
fire, fruit, and span worm, which flourish best upon weak plants.

The common theory that a fertilizer is simply a stimulant, whose
influence is of no permanent benefit, has been proved to be erroneous
by the experiments of some of the largest growers, who, after having
used Bradley’s Superphosphate, find that not only have they grown
enormous crops of the best quality berries, but their bogs are
annually in a better condition than their neighbors’ bogs which have
not been fertilized, and from which only small or average crops of
berries have been secured.

By common consent, therefore, the leading growers are large users of
Bradley’s Superphosphate, as they are convinced that its liberal use
upon their bogs is repaid to them every season in increased crops of
perfect fruit which commands the highest market price.

       *       *       *       *       *

                                SOUTH YARMOUTH, MASS., Oct. 22, 1891.

  I have used the Bradley Fertilizer on newly set cranberry vines,
  and find it causes them to grow and spread more rapidly over a new
  bog.

                                                      JAMES F. SEARS.




                         CRANBERRY ENEMIES.


One of the greatest enemies to successful Cranberry growing is one
that can be easily conquered, but which is oftenest neglected; that
is, the weeds and small bushes when they first appear. It is a
comparatively easy matter under the more favorable conditions, during
the three years before the bog comes to full bearing, to go over it
once or twice during each season with a hoe, and clean out every weed
and bush, no matter how small and insignificant it make look. But
the grower often thinks that this is unnecessary labor, especially
as he has put considerable money into the bog, and as yet has had
no returns from his investment. If this work is neglected now, when
the bog comes to fruiting there will be found, especially among the
plants, quite an amount of injurious weeds and small bushes which
increase rapidly from year to year, and finally kill out the bog. But
if during the first three years they are steadily and systematically
cut down, they become so thoroughly eradicated that a little going
over the bog every spring will keep it in good condition for ten or
fifteen years, with little trouble from either weeds or bushes.

The cultivation of the Cranberry, ever since it has been
cultivated for a crop, has been a practical exemplification of
the advice of that eminent agriculturist, Horace Greeley, who,
for the extermination of the Canadian thistle, recommended its
“cultivation,” as then there would come plenty of enemies to
accomplish its destruction.

The fire, span, tip, and fruit worms rank in the order named as the
most destructive,--the first two in the list blasting in a few hours
an almost assured and abundant crop.

The larger growers, after experimenting with perhaps all of the
known insecticides, have most generally adopted some form of tobacco
preparation, applied in solution in the form of a spray, upon the
first indication of the approach of the fire-worm.

So extensive is the use of tobacco, that one grower, Mr. Franklin
Crocker, of Hyannis, treasurer of the South Sea Cranberry Company,
who has probably given as much attention as any other grower to this
branch of the business, informs us that for himself and others he
purchased, in its various forms, over five thousand dollars’ worth
of tobacco during the past two years, for this purpose. Mr. Crocker
tells of his experience with tobacco in his letter on page 3 of cover.

Many growers (not all) are able to resort to “Spring Flowage” as an
effective and cheap remedy for fire-worms. That this is effective
there can be no question, but in its application for destroying
the worm it is injurious to the keeping quality of the fruit when
gathered.




                            THE HARVEST.


The picking of berries commences about the first of September. They
should be picked as soon as the greater part have put on a good, fair
color. The great mistake in the past has been in allowing the berries
to become over size. The trade has demanded _dark_ berries, which
made the Early Blacks so popular; but all that was gained in _color_
was at the sacrifice of the keeping quality, to the injury of the
grower and dealer.

This is becoming so well recognized that “pick early” comes with
the greater emphasis from all the larger dealers, who, by sad
experiences, have become more interested in this particular feature
than the grower, who, gathering his harvest of beautiful fruit, has
also immediately gathered in the skekels, recognizing that “the best
time to sell is right off the bog.” Thus has he “Sown to the Wind;”
and while disaster has been delayed, its coming is manifest in the
experience of the past season, when in some cases the crop has not
paid expenses.

An old receipt, “How to cook a hare,” began, “First catch the
hare.” We have endeavored to tell you how to get the crop; and now,
supposing you have this, we will give you an idea of how it is
gathered, so far as may be of interest to the uninitiated: Lines are
drawn across the bog, from eight to twenty feet apart, as a guide
for keeping in place those pickers who incline otherwise to the
right or left, as “spots” thick or thin allure or repel them in their
eagerness “to fill the measure.” Then, placing as many pickers within
the lines as can have sufficient “elbow room,” picking length-wise,
they proceed to pick.

An overseer is needed for every twenty-five pickers, to see that the
work is properly done, each in his or her own place, and that all are
picking clean from the vines, and from the “bottom;” that is, picking
from the ground all scattering berries.

Measures holding six quarts are the most convenient size, and the
usual price is ten cents per measure, each picker using generally
two measures and so saving time, as the berries must be carried to
the “Tally.” The pickers are all known by numbers, and as they go to
empty their measure they report “Number (5),” one or two measures,
as the case may be, the Tally repeating each number and tally, as a
precaution against mistakes.

On some bogs checks are given thus: “Good for ten cents, South Sea
Co., F. Crocker, Hyannis, Treas.;” and such checks are current coin
during “Cranberry time” for supplies at the stores.

Again, others provide themselves with a large amount of dimes, and so
“pay off” as each measure is delivered. Berries, after being picked,
should be put in slatted boxes holding about one bushel each, as
being the most convenient size to handle, and then put away for at
least twenty-four hours to cool off, as prevention against the almost
immediate process of decay if this is not done.




                             BARRELLING.


After being thoroughly cooled they are put in screens about ten feet
long, three feet wide at the upper end, and six to eight inches
at the lower end, from which, under the careful eye of an expert
“screener,” they are “run” into a barrel set ready to receive them.

Four or five screeners about each screen remove all trash and unsound
berries, and sometimes the light-colored ones, which are held to
“color up,” or packed separately and marked “Light.” As the barrels
are being filled, they should be thoroughly shaken, at least three
times; then, when the uninitiated packer thinks he has got the barrel
full enough, it needs from four to six quarts more, when, with a
screw, press the berries firmly down into the barrel. The barrels now
properly headed and nailed, carry the berries in shape to command the
highest price for which their grade may warrant. It _pays_ to pack
the fruit as _solid_ as possible, since, whether sound or otherwise,
a full barrel will _sell_ when one lacking one inch or more of
berries will command little attention.

       *       *       *       *       *

                                  WEST HARWICH, MASS., Oct. 19, 1891.

  In the spring of 1890 I bought an acre of cranberry bog that had
  been set about 30 years, and was so run down as to bear only about
  10 barrels per year. I immediately applied 400 pounds of Bradley’s
  Fertilizer, and received the first year a crop of 22 barrels.

  Last spring I applied 600 pounds of same Fertilizer, and have
  just gathered 40 barrels of nice berries, making an increase of
  30 barrels a year on one acre by the use of Bradley’s Fertilizer,
  equal to 300 per cent. gain.

  Besides all this improvement in the crop, the Fertilizer has had
  the effect to renew the vines to such an extent as to give them
  the appearance of a new bog, while the moss, which was quite
  troublesome, has been wholly killed out. It is surprising to see
  how quick moss will begin to disappear where Bradley’s Fertilizer
  has been applied.

                                                         W. P. BAKER.




              THE 1891 CROP IN THE NEW ENGLAND STATES.


The following comparative statement of the 1891 crop of Cranberries
on Dec. 1, 1891, in the New England States, was compiled by Charles
H. Nye, Esq., Superintendent Cape Cod Division, Old Colony Railroad,
and allowing that 9,000 bushels may have been grown in Rhode Island
and Connecticut, would make the 1891 crop about or quite 480,000
bushels.

  ============================+===============+========================
                              |     1890.     |     1891.     |
     STATIONS SHIPPED FROM.   +--------+------+--------+------+ TO BE
                              |BARRELS.|BOXES.|BARRELS.|BOXES.|SHIPPED.
  ----------------------------+--------+------+--------+------+--------
  Rock                        |  1,879 |   993|  3,420 |   296|
  South Middleboro            |     74 |    14|    248 |    14|
  Tremont                     | 16,840 | 2,640| 23,986 | 2,486|   200
  Marion                      |    440 |   310|    441 |   361|
  Mattapoisett                |    175 |    63|    215 |   688|
  South Wareham               |    416 |    90|    516 |   269|
  Wareham                     | 14,919 | 4,870| 18,125 | 4,743|
  East Wareham                |  2,223 |   203|        |      |
  Onset Junction              |        |      |  3,412 |   156|   300
  Buzzard’s Bay               |     33 |   127|    223 |   130|
  Monument Beach              |    229 |   147|    550 |    18|
  Wenaumet                    |     37 |    31|    103 |    97|
  Cataumet                    |   1690 |   498|    323 |   381|
  North Falmouth              |    655 |   711|    753 | 1,459|
  West Falmouth               |    164 |    11|     90 |    15|
  Falmouth                    |  1,997 |   872|  4,085 | 3,281|   400
  Woods Holl                  |    182 |      |        |      |
  Bourne                      |    859 |    83|  1,606 |   415|
  Bournedale                  |  1,512 |   738|  1,160 |   654|
  Sagamore                    |  3,108 | 1,343|  4,589 |   971|
  Sandwich                    |  2,626 | 2,925|  6,003 | 2,700| 1,000
  West Barnstable             |  8,081 | 1,804| 12,599 | 2,174|
  Barnstable                  |    399 |     9|    383 |    14|
  Yarmouth                    |  2,943 |   990|  5,373 |   673|   200
  Hyannis                     |  1,754 |   589|  2,270 |   810| 1,000
  South Yarmouth              |  1,890 |   525|  4,712 |   503|
  South Dennis                |  2,434 |   754|  5,780 |   787|
  North Harwich               |  2,073 |   770|  3,945 | 1,257|   250
  Harwich                     |  4,847 | 3,160| 10,996 | 3,059|
  South Harwich               |    613 |   181|    802 |   702|
  South Chatham               |    160 |    80|    382 |   139|
  Chatham                     |    498 |   241|    649 |   277|
  Pleasant Lake               |  1,244 | 1,031|  1,369 | 1,210|
  Brewster                    |  2,440 |   457|  2,959 |   585|
  Orleans                     |    568 |   165|  1,218 |   164|
  Eastham                     |    104 |    36|    137 |   132|    50
  North Eastham               |     10 |    12|     36 |    36|
  South Wellfleet             |     10 |     2|     26 |      |
  Wellfleet                   |     80 |    55|     67 |    20|
  South Truro                 |     45 |    45|     27 |    20|
  Truro                       |        |      |     88 |      |
  North Truro                 |        |      |      8 |      |
  Provincetown                |    146 |    61|     57 |     5|
  ----------------------------+--------+------+--------+------+--------
    Total shipments, barrels  | 79,006 |27,646|123,737 |31,761| 3,400
    Boxes reduced to barrels  |  9,215 |      | 10,587 |      |
  ----------------------------+--------+------+--------+------+--------
    Total number barrels      | 88,221 |      |134,324 |      |
    To be shipped             |  1,665 |      |  3,400 |      |
  ----------------------------+--------+------+--------+------+--------
      Total, Cape Cod Division| 89,886 |      |137,724 |      |
  ============================+========+======+========+======+========


                 CENTRAL DIVISION, OLD COLONY RAILROAD.

  ========================+======+========================
                          | 1890.|     1891.     |
   STATIONS SHIPPED FROM. +------+--------+------+ TOTAL
                          |BOXES.|BARRELS.|BOXES.|BARRELS.
  ------------------------+------+--------+------+--------
  Plymouth                |11,232| 11,194 |   980| 11,521
  Plympton                | 1,418|  1,964 |   589|  2,160
  South Hanson            |   660|    665 |    16|    670
  Middleboro’             |      |  2,045 | 1,038|  2,391
  North Easton            |      |    300 |      |    300
  Taunton                 |   240|    232 |      |    232
  Mansfield               |      |    182 |      |    182
  Attleboro’              |   240|    528 |      |    528
  ------------------------+------+--------+------+--------
  Central Division        |      |        |      | 17,984
  Martha’s Vineyard       |      |        |      |  1,308
  ------------------------+------+--------+------+--------
    Total number barrels  |      |        |      | 19,292
    Add Cape Cod Division |      |        |      |137,724
  ------------------------+------+--------+------+--------
      Total number barrels|      |        |      |157,016
  Or 471,048 bushels.     |      |        |      |
  ========================+======+========================




                 THE 1891 CROP OF THE UNITED STATES.


Mr. A. J. Rider, Secretary of the American Cranberry Growers’
Association, estimates the entire crop of Cranberries grown in 1891
as follows:

  New England      480,000 bush.
  New Jersey       250,000   ”
  The West          30,000   ”
                   -------
      Total        760,000   ”

Showing that the crop for the entire country was short 100,000
bushels, when compared with the 1890 crop.




                   THE FERTILIZER FOR CRANBERRIES.


Bradley’s Superphosphate, “the old reliable,” has been successfully
used in the cultivation of Cranberries for many years past.

It is, as every one knows, the best general fertilizer on the market.
By _practical experience_, and not by fallacious (though plausible)
_theories_, it has demonstrated its entire fitness for growing
the best Cranberries and producing the largest crops. It has been
repeatedly noticed that Cranberries grown on this fertilizer are more
highly colored, harder, and better “keepers” than those raised under
ordinary conditions of cultivation.

As Bradley’s Phosphate contains the very choicest quality of plant
foods in such forms and proportions as long practical experience has
demonstrated will most fully satisfy the demands of the crop for a
complete and nutritious fertilizer, it wholly meets the requirements
of the Cranberry, as has been abundantly proven by exhaustive tests
on the largest bogs.

A “Special Fertilizer” for Cranberries, claimed to be “based on their
analysis,” may be taking with some; but this is only an _idea_,--a
_theory_ without _practice_ to support it, an advertising dodge to
catch the uninitiated. The theory of feeding plants on this basis was
exploded long ago both at home and abroad; and while formerly one
manufacturer of “Special Fertilizers” advertised twenty-four special
crop formulas, he now sells but ten, and the analyses of these are
totally different from the original formulas which were represented
as accurate demonstrations of the “discovery,” so called.

Professor Johnson, Director of the Connecticut Agricultural
Experiment Station, and one of the best authorities on agricultural
chemistry of this country, has said: “_In honest truth, there is no
possibility of compounding special fertilizers adapted to each of
our various crops, nor even to our various classes of crops. Special
manures for particular crops are, in fact, least heard of where
agriculture is guided by the clearest light of science and the widest
range of experience._”

Professor Atwater, recently Director of the Experiment Stations of
the United States at Washington, has stated: “_There is no best
fertilizer for any crop, and the formulas to fit all cases are out of
the question._” So do not be caught by this _theory_ snare, and pay
four or five dollars a ton extra on your fertilizer for that “idea.”

Bradley’s Superphosphate has stood the test of nearly thirty years,
and its sales are far greater than that of any other fertilizer on
the market. It is the acknowledged _Standard_, so recognized by
its strongest competitors, whose favorite argument is that their
fertilizer is “equal to Bradley’s.” “There are tricks in all trades,”
but no trick can undermine the stability of an article so universally
recognized as the _standard of excellence_ in its class as Bradley’s
Phosphate.

The following letter may serve to answer inquiries about
“_Insecticide_.”

                                       HYANNIS, MASS., Feb. 22, 1892.

  In regard to tobacco as an insecticide, I submit the following:
  Tobacco solution is prepared by steeping tobacco stems in warm
  water, using from one and a half to two pounds of stems to a gallon
  of water, according to strength of stems in the nicotine principle.
  So far, the larger growers prefer the stems from the Missouri-river
  region, and for this purpose I ordered six car-loads last Saturday
  from that section for the use of growers the coming season.

  Of the solution, when prepared, it takes about one gallon to a
  square rod, applied in the form of a spray as fine as possible.
  For this purpose the “Nixon Pump” is the most effective among the
  many that I have ever tested. The application should be made upon
  the first appearance of the worms; any delay resulting often in
  entire loss of crop, since nothing but flowage will kill the larger
  worms. Another and more convenient solution is obtained from Hill’s
  Extract of Tobacco--two or three quarts to a barrel of water. This
  requires no heating, and may be prepared at a moment’s notice. My
  sales last year of this Extract amounted to over eight hundred
  gallons.

                         Respectfully yours,
                                                    FRANKLIN CROCKER.