ESSEX SOCIETY. 59 



thrived, and the fruit ivas so close together, that one could hardly 

 put the finger in, without touching the cranberries." He after- 

 wards remarked, that the soil was loamy, and that he "watered 

 them well." It does not appear whether he tried any without 

 watering, but boasts of " not losing ten out of the one hundred 

 and fifty plants." It will be interesting to know the fact, that 

 in the experiment make by Winthrop Low, of Essex, although 

 he set out near thirteen hundred plants, (on sods,) yet without 

 any artificial watering, he lost not one. 



Thus much for the published accounts that have come to 

 hand. An intelligent gentleman from South Hadley, Mr. Rip- 

 ley, states orally, that for ten years, (the time of his residence in 

 that town) he has been familiar with a spot of cranberries, grow- 

 ing upon a dry, hungry knoll of sandy loam, bearing plentifully 

 every other year, and some every year. He remarked that, when 

 the soil had been a little broken, the runners were more vigor- 

 ous and in better bearing than when the sward was firm. Mr. 

 R. also states, that Robert Brainard, of the same town, trans- 

 planted cranberry sods from the meadow into his tillage land in 

 June last, (1847) and they have already produced the full-grown 

 cranberry. He is so gratified and surprised at this result, that 

 he intends to enlarge his lot without delay. As evidence of the 

 nature of the soil, Mr. Ripley states that Indian corn was grow- 

 ing in the same field, and potatoes directly alongside. 



Abel Burnham, of Essex, exhibited at the cattle-show in Lynn, 

 in September last, a handsome specimen of cranberries, raised 

 upon sixty-four rods of high land, — land which is well known 

 to have been formerly cultivated with Indian corn. As evidence 

 of the hardy and almost indestructible nature of this plant, it is 

 said, by persons upon whom the utmost reliance may be placed, 

 that, in one case at least, the cranberry vine appears to grow in 

 a bed of the purest gravel. 



The last case of which it is proposed to speak, though others 

 are by no means wanting, is that of the experiment of Winthrop 

 Low, of Essex, a report of which, accompanied by his statement, 

 will be found in another part of the transactions for this year. 

 The sods were taken dripping from the meadow, in the month 

 of May of the present year, and within a day or two were set 



