ESSEX SOCIETY. 31 



in small patches of about a Rod or the like ; the Leaves are like 

 Box, but greener, thick and glistening ; the Blossoms are very- 

 like our English Night shade Flowers, after which, succeed 

 the Berries, hanging by long, small foot stalks, no bigger than 

 a hair ; at first they are of a pale yellow Colour, afterwards 

 red, and as big as Cherry's, some perfectly round, others oval, 

 all of them hollow, of a sour astringent taste ; they are ripe in 

 August and September. They are excellent for the Scurvey. 

 They are also good to allay the furvour of hot Diseases. The 

 English and Indians use them, by much boyling them with 

 Sugar for sauce, to eat with their meat, and it is delicate sauce, 

 especially for roasted mutton. Some make tarts with them, as 

 with Goose Berries." 



Such is the history and use 'of the cranberry in the days of 

 the Pilgrims, written in their peculiar style, probably not twen- 

 ty-five years from their landing at Plymouth, The plant, called 

 in some parts of Maine, the "Mountain Cranberry," is used 

 there for culinary purposes, like our common cranberry. It is 

 a very rare plant, being as yet discovered but in one spot in 

 Massachusetts, and that occurs in a pasture in North Danvers. 

 It is the Vaccinium vitis Idas. L., [Cow berry.] It can be used 

 as the common cranberry, but is inferior to it. We have not 

 had it a sufficient length of time under cultivation, to form an 

 opinion of its value. The High cranberry, or viburnum opu- 

 lus, is a handsome shrub, rising from six to ten feet high, and 

 bearing an acid fruit somewhat resembling cranberries. It has 

 been recommended by some persons as a good substitute for 

 the cranberry, and on that account worth cultivation, but we 

 have not found it so ; the fruit is very acid and bitter, contain- 

 ing a large oblong nut. It is, in our opinion, a shrub much 

 more ornamental than useful. 



The cranberry can be successfully cultivated in any good 

 soil, not absolutely dry. It prefers a moist soil, and still better, 

 a sandy peat. In the selection of plants for the purpose of cul- 

 tivation, we should choose those growing in low grounds, near 

 the upland, in preference to those found in wet, mossy mead- 

 ows. We think the autumn a favorable season for transplant- 

 ing the cranberry, as they can more readily be taken from low 



