THE BOG.
Itis 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.