356 BARNSTABLE SOCIETY. 



For the best experiment in the cultivation of cranberries, 

 on forty rods or more, of land, to Edward Thacher, 

 Yarmouth, first premium, - - - $5 00 



For the next best do. do., to James N. Lovell, Barnstable, 

 second premium, - - - - 3 00 



Oliver Ford's Statement. 



Six years since, I brought from Brighton, a small fig tree, 

 placed it in my garden, and covered it with boards, and sea- 

 weed. Notwithstanding it froze so that the branches came off 

 in the spring, it sprouted again the following summer, and grew 

 to its former size. In the fall I removed it to the cellar, and in 

 the spring, took it from the tub, and set it in a building with a 

 glass roof. During the winter, I kept this building heated by 

 a stove. In the summer following, it produced a peck of ripe 

 figs. From the root, three shoots appeared, and grew three 

 feet. I then separated them from the parent stock, and set 

 them out in the same building. This was in the spring of 1846. 

 Now, I have four trees in bearing, producing this year one 

 bushel and a half of figs, a specimen of which is presented. 

 Last May, I took out the glass, and let the trees come to the open 

 air, and think the fruit is much better. The trees have had no 

 artificial heat for three years past. By gradually exposing 

 them, I shall cultivate them in the open garden, as I do the 

 grape, by making a tight fence around them, and just covering 

 the branches with boards, forming a temporary roof during the 

 inclement season. 



Hyannis, Oct. 16, 1850. 



Edward Thachefs Statement. 

 The following is a statement of the course pursued by me, 

 in the cultivation of the cranberry. July 12th, 1845, I pur- 

 chased for forty dollars, then considered more than it was 

 worth, one and a half acres of land, — about one half a sandy 

 beach, and the remainder a low peat meadow, covered with 

 water. A rim, of about six feet in width around the bog, and 

 between the water and the beach, had a few cranberry vines on 



