116 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



THE CRANBERRY AND ITS CULTURE. 



BY REV. E. EASTWOOD, 



I. The Natural History op the Cranberry. The cran- 

 berry vine is to be met with in almost every part of tlie globe. 

 It is most common to those regions of country in which abound 

 the morass, swamp and bog, and where peat or sand form the 

 preponderating portion of the soil. There are some locations 

 in which the vine is found to flourish, but where there is little or 

 no fruit produced. It is in consequence of the adaptation of 

 climate, soils and location, that Cape Cod has the superiority 

 over most places, in the production and perfect development 

 of the cranberry. 



The cranberry is found in some parts of Russia, and those 

 who are acquainted with its value make of it an article of com- 

 merce. The vine in that country is more stinted and dwarfish 

 in its growth than in this. The fruit is small, and of a pale 

 hue, being much inferior in color to the cranberry raised in 

 Barnstable county. It is exceedingly acrid in flavor, and in con- 

 sequence of this it can never be a rival to the American cran- 

 berry. 



The midland counties of England are noted for their exten- 

 sive fens. These fens are, at certain seasons of the year, flooded, 

 being supplied with water by various little rills which empty 

 themselves therein. On the margin of these rills and fens, 

 grows the cranberry vine, which is a species widely difierent 

 from the American, and likewise much inferior in size, color 



and flavor. It is known by botanists as the European cranberry 

 ( Ox/jcoccus Palustris.') 



The peasantry of the country in which this berry is found 

 do not prize it so highly as they ought. It has never been cul- 

 tivated in England, and in size, in its wild condition, it rarely 

 attains the bulk of an ordinary pea. It is doubtful, whether if 

 it received the greatest care and cultivation, it would attain 

 the' proportions of the American cranberry. ( Oxycocctis 

 Macrocarpus.^ 



It scarcely seems necessary to enlarge upon this species, 

 because in this county its merits are so well known. It is 



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