466 CULTIVATION OF CRANBERRIES. 



nic parties to the shores of Massachusetts and Rhode 

 Island. It is a relic, I suppose, of the Indian modes of 

 cooking this fish. A hole is dug in the earth about 18 

 inches deep, and lined with round stones. In this a fire 

 is made ; and when the stones are sufficiently hot, a bushel 

 or more of clams is thrown in, and covered over with 

 fresh sea-weed, by which the steam is kept in. Prepared 

 in this way, they are preferred to such as are cooked in 

 a kitchen. 



Parties of ten to twenty are most common at a clam 

 bake, but sometimes a hundred together will set out with 

 this, among other things in view, for their day s amuse 

 ment. &quot; On the occasion of a grand political meeting in 

 favour of General Harrison, on the 4th of July 1840, 

 nearly 10,000 persons assembled in Rhode Island, for 

 whom a clam lake and a chowder were prepared.&quot; The 

 chowder is a stew of fish, pork, onions, and biscuit, 

 generally prepared on such occasions from fish caught on 

 the spot. 



Among the crops cultivated on a large scale in Massa 

 chusetts, which thrive on the peaty spots occurring 

 among the sand hills and banks of this poor coast, and 

 from which considerable profit is reaped in some locali 

 ties, the cranberry is one we should scarcely think of in 

 Great Britain. The American cranberry (Vaccinium 

 microcarpum] is about twice the size of ours, ( V. oxy- 

 cocusj) being about half an inch in diameter, and is very 

 productive when cultivated. As much as two bushels and 

 a peck are sometimes reaped from a square rod of 

 ground ; and at three dollars a bushel, prize crops have 

 yielded a return of 500 to 600 dollars an acre. The 

 market for this fruit is extensive in the States, as pre 

 served cranberries are eaten largely at dinner by almost 

 every one, especially to white meats. The custom is an 

 agreeable one, probably borrowed from the Dutch, and 

 the stranger readily conforms to it. 



