tion, still it possesses so much that is interesting and advan tageous that it deserves the attention of those who have no other means of growing them. Even a partial success will very often be highly remunerative, besides affording much pleasure to the cultivator.

There are but few gardens or soils where the experiment is not worth trying on a small scale, even if it is not suocessful, because the expense is so slight that a total failure would be no great loss of capital.

A light sandy or loamy soil, one that is naturally moist, should be selected, if convenient, and prepared as thoroughly as for a vegetable garden. If swamp-mud or peat can be had, it is well to give a liberal dressing, mixing it with the soil; rake all level, and then plant in rows about two feet apart, and one foot apart in the rows. Hoe the plants as long as it can be conveniently done without disturbing them, after which no cultivation is required, except to pull out large weeds or grass that may occasionally appear.

If saw-dust can be had, it should be applied as a mulch, scattering a light dressing in among the plants; this will keep the soil moist and assist in keeping the weeds down. A small plot of three or four rods square will, if they succeed, be sufficient to supply an ordinary family.

In addition to the value of the fruit, the Cranberry is an exceedingly ornamental plant at all times of the season, whether in fruit or flower. The variety known as the Bell Cranberry is generally planted on upland, but it is proba ble that others, with proper care, will succeed equally as well. There are a few cultivators in the vicinity of New York who grow all of the improved varieties on upland, and claim that they are very successful with them. Judging from the fruit that has been shown by these gentlemen at our horticultural fairs, the berries grow to as large a size, if not in such large quantities, on upland as upon the low. By obtaining seeds from these upland beds, and

by producing new varieties therefrom, plants may be ob tained that will be better adapted to dry soils than any previously known. It is certainly worthy of trial, and I would advise all who have leisure and inclination to try the experiment fully and thoroughly.

PROFITS OF CULTURE.

The profits of Cranberry culture, like those from other fruits, depend somewhat upon the amount of care given the beds as well as upon the markets. There is also a liability of failure from unforeseen causes; still the Cranberry may be considered as certain as any other fruit. To make anything like a fair estimate in regard to profits, we are obliged to select from the reports of the various growers throughout the country, and draw our conclusions therefrom. But in many instances these are so vague that we can only approximate to the truth. I have inserted a few of such as I deem reliable, omitting those which appear to be too far above the average:

Mr. Edmund Bagley, of Massachusetts, reports in the Journal of Commerce: cost of land, $12 per acre; cleaning, $100; vines and setting, $50; cultivation, $10 per year. The fourth year, average crop, 300 bushels per acre; worth $2.50 per bushel.

F. Trowbridge, New Haven, Conn., considers the usual average about 175 to 200 bushels per acre.

Mr. Sullivan Bates says, that on beds that have been carefully prepared, the yield will be from 150 to 400 bushels per acre.

J. H. Baker, of Westport, Mass., reports the average crop about 175 bushels.

Trowbridge and Davis, of Ocean County, N. J., report 10 acres in bearing; crop 1,100 bushels; although the beds were new, and have not arrived at an age at which a full crop could be expected.

At Shamong, N. J., a small bed is reported to have yielded 220 bushels per acre.

W. R. Braddock, of Bedford, N. J., has 100 acres; 20 acres of which yielded, last season, 1866, an average of 100 bushels per acre. The fruit sold for a price which left him $6,000 over and above all expenses.

The above statements are about a fair average of the various reports received from the proprietors of Cranberry beds in the Eastern States. The price of the fruit varies from $2.00 to $6.00 per bushel. It is probable that when the immense beds, which are now being planted, have ar rived at full maturity, our markets will be fully supplied, unless some new way of disposing of the fruit is dis covered, which it is very likely will be the case.

CHAPTER X.

HUCKLEBERRY.-(FAMILY ERICACEA)

Huckleberries were formerly all included under the genus Vaccinium, but botanists now separate them into the genera, Gaylussacia and Vaccinium. In general appearance they resemble one another, being branching shrubs, with bell-shaped or urn-shaped corollas and 2parted anthers. The fruit is a 10 to many seeded berry. The Gaylussacias differ from the Vacciniums in having only one seed in each cell of the fruit, and their foliage is often sprinkled with resinous dots. For our purposes it is convenient to consider them all under one head.

The species best known in the United States as produc ing edible fruit, are chiefly deciduous shrubs of medium size, blooming in May and June, and ripening their fruit from July to September.

SPECIES.

The number of species of Huckleberry is quite large, and I shall only name a few of the best.

Gaylussacia frondosa. - Blue Dangleberry. - Leaves obovate, oblong, pale glaucous beneath; branches slender smooth. Fruit dark blue, covered with white bloom, sweet

and edible. Bash grows three to six feet high. Found from New England to Virginia in low grounds.

G. resinosa.-Black Huckleberry.-Leaves oval or ob long, clammy when young; plants quite branching, the young shoots pubescent; fruit black without bloom, with an agreeable flavor; bush, two to three feet high. Com mon in swamps and low grounds at the North.

Vaccinium Pennsylvanicum. - Dwarf Blueberry. Leaves oblong, sometimes lanceolate, smooth and shining; branches green, somewhat angled, occasionally waity; bush one to three feet, very prolific; berries blue, ripening early. The fruit of this species is highly prized on account of its earliness, but it is not so agreeable in flavor as son others. Abundant in dry, sandy seasons, from Maryland northward.

V. Canadense.-Canada Blueberry.-Leaves more or less downy, common in low grounds; otherwise similar to the preceding species.

V. corymbosum. -Swamp Blueberry, or High-bush Huckleberry.-Leaves oval or oblong, variable in size and color. Shrubs four to ten feet high, common in low, wet places. Fruit black, covered with bloom, sweet but sprightly; the best Huckleberry; ripens late in the season, August and September.

Fig. 104 shows a small branch, with bunch of fruit of natural size. This species assumes various forms and colors; sometimes the fruit is oval, approaching an oblong, while others are globular or slightly compressed. The Black High-bush Huckleberry, as it is generally called, is quite distinct, the fruit being destitute of bloom and of inferior flavor. It is distinguished by the name of V. corymbosum, var. atrococsum, by Dr. Gray. There are many other species and varieties growing wild all over the country. There are also foreign species, but none of them superior to those named. I do not think it necessary to enter into any minute details