282 CRANBERRY. 



with salt, and sometimes raw ; and in some countries it is- 

 not only boiled and roasted, but ground into meal ; and 

 puddings, cakes, and bread, are made from it. 



CRANBERRY. 



CANNED ERGE. Oxycocus. 



THIS genus of plants is well distinguished from the 

 Vaccitiium,oi' Whortleberry, by the narrow revolute segments 

 of corolla ; and are pretty little trailing evergreen plants, 

 to which a peat soil, and rather moist situations, are 

 absolutely necessary. They are very little changed by 

 culture. 



The Oxycocus macrocarpus is a red acid fruit, highly 

 valued as a sweetmeat, or for tarts. It is well known that 

 this excellent fruit grows in many parts of our country 

 spontaneously ; and that the mere gathering it, is all that 

 bountiful Nature requires at our hands ; but it is well worth 

 cultivating where there are none. This fruit will keep a 

 whole year, if properly preserved in close covered stone 

 jars, and is considered, by many, as superior, to the best 

 currant jelly, and may be kept for many months in a raw 

 state without injury. 



The Oxycocus paluitris bears edible berries, which are 

 gathered wijd both in England and Scotland, and made 

 into tarts. Lightfoot says, that twenty or thirty pounds 

 worth are sold each market day, for five or six weeks 

 together in the town of Langtown, on the borders of 

 Cumberland. 



Nicol says, the American species is more easily cul- 

 tivated than the English, but is inferior to it in flavour 

 There is reason to believe that the quality of the fruit of 

 each of these species is subject to variations, which 

 have not yet been practically distinguished. Their cul- 

 tivation is now so well understood, that they may be 

 both considered with propriety as inmates of the fruit garden. 



