Part 1

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Bradley’s Standard Fertilizers

FOR ALL CROPS.

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.

_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

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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.