Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/461

 CRANCH CRANE 457 the depth of two to six inches, according as the muck is deep or shallow. Cultivators attach much importance to the quality of the sand used to cover the meadow ; it should be as free as possible from clay or vegetable matter, and from the seeds of weeds. Sand serves a twofold purpose : it affords a genial medium in which the newly set plants can strike root, and it keeps down the growth of such plants as would otherwise spring from the muck. The sanding being completed, the vines are then planted. These should be chosen with great care, some of them being unfruitful ; the best may be distinguished by the wiry texture of the wood and the greenish brown color of the leaves. The poorer plants are more vigorous, brighter, greener, and have a more bushy foliage than the best. The vines should be planted in the spring, or in the autumn if the " patch " can be well flooded in winter. The transferring of the sods which bear the vines is not a good practice. A better method is to use cuttings from four to six inches long, the middle of which is covered in the soil, and the ends left projecting; or two or three cuttings maybe planted together with a dibble. Vines have been cut into pieces two or three inches long by a common hay cutter, sown broadcast, and harrowed in. Propagation from seed is not to be depended on, the seed not germinating readily except in favorable localities ; the seed- lings are easily injured ; there is much loss of time ; and even in the third year little fruit is borne. The vines should be planted in rows two feet apart. The weeds should be kept down for two seasons, after which the vines will begin to take full possession of the soil. Cranberry vines are sometimes burned (but not when the ground is very dry) to destroy the worm. Flooding is also a remedy for this. The fruit ripens in the vicinity of New York about the middle of October. The persons who pick the berries are usually paid by the bushel. The vines should be picked clean. When gathered before they are ripe (as is some- times done to save them from frost), or if the dew be on them, they do not keep well. The cranberry rake may sometimes be used to ad- vantage ; it is made of bent sheet iron, whose lower edge is a row of teeth shaped like the letter V ; when drawn over the ground the plants escape, but the fruit is gathered. The berries may be rolled over an inclined plane to separate the good from the bad. Leaves, straws, and prematurely ripe or diseased fruit should be removed. Cranberries for Europe are packed in water in small kegs, and some- times in sealed bottles filled with water. By the American aborigines poultices were pre- pared from cranberries to extract the venom from wounds made by poisoned arrows, and the same are used as a popular remedy for erysipelas. t'KAXCII. I. William, an American jurist, born in Weymouth, Mass., July 17", 1769, died in Washington, Sept. 1, 1855. He graduated at Harvard college in 1787, and was admitted to the bar in July, 1790. In 1800 he was ap- pointed one of the commissioners of public buildings, and on Feb. 27, 1801, was nominated as one of the assistant judges of the United States circuit court for the District of Columbia. In 1805 he was appointed chief justice of the court, and held the office until his death. In all this period of time only two of his decisions were overruled. His reports of the decisions of the United States supreme court, and of the circuit court of the District of Columbia from 1801 to 1841, are well known. His legal ac- quirements were extraordinary, and he studied his cases with a patience and research that never grew weary. Among the last services im- posed upon him by congress was the final hear- ing of patent causes after an appeal from the commissioner of patents. II. Christopher Pearse, an American artist and poet, son of the pre- ceding, born at Alexandria, Va., March 8, 1813. He graduated at Columbian college in Washington in 1831, studied for three years in the divinity school of Harvard university, and became a licentiate, but in 1842 devoted him- self to landscape painting. He resided in New York in the practice of his art from that time till 1846, when he visited Italy for two years. He went again to Europe in 1853, and lived in Paris and in Italy for ten years, executing many landscapes, of which those devoted to Swiss and Italian scenery have been specially admired. After his return from Europe he resided some time at Fishkill on the Hudson, and now lives on Staten Island. Besides fre- quent contributions to periodical literature, he has published a volume of poems (1854) ; " The Last of the Huggermuggers " (1856) and " Kob- boltozo" (1857), tales for children illustrated by himself; and a translation of the ^Eneid into blank verse (1872). CRANE, a wading bird of the order gralla- tores, suborder herodiones, and family gruidce. In this family are included the genera grua y scops, and Balearica. The genus grus, which includes the typical cranes, has the bill longer than the head, straight, sharp-pointed, com- pressed on the sides, and slightly curved at the tip ; the wings are long, the tertials lengthened and pendent; tail short; tarsi very long and slender, covered with transverse scales ; toes rather short, the outer united at the base to the middle one, the lateral ones equal ; hind toe short and elevated ; claws short and strong. The cranes are large birds, frequenting marshes, muddy flats, and cultivated and open plains, migrating to warm climates in winter, and re- turning to the north to breed. They fly usually at night in large flocks, following a leader in two diverging lines, at a great elevation, and sometimes uttering loud cries. Their food con- sists of reptiles, fish, mice, and other small ani- mals, insects, seeds, roots, and grain. The com- mon crane of Europe is G, cinereus (Bechst.). The American crane (G. Americanm, Ord) is a good example of the genus. It has the bill