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.