ESSAY ON THE CRANBERRY. 115 



Low, of Essex, a report of Avhich, accompanied bj 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 in a soil of sandy 

 loam, a part of 3''ellow appearance, and a smaller part being dark. 

 Capt. L. used no water at all about the plants, and though the quan- 

 tity of rain in May was small, (two and seven-eighths inches only,) 

 yet every vine lived, and as appears from the report and statement, 

 nearly every hill produced berries. The amount of rain during the 

 six months beginning with May, has indeed been greater than usual, 

 viz: twenty-five and three-eighths inches; in 18-16, for the same 

 months it being but fifteen and seven-eighths inches ; in 1845, twen- 

 ty-two and seven-eighths ; in 1844, tAventy-one and three -quarters ; 

 and in 1843, nineteen and three-quarters inches. But the soil is not 

 retentive of moisture, and the two or three extra inches of rain the 

 present year could have made but little difference on that account. 

 The ground always appears dry in a few hours after a shower, a faci 

 accounted for partly by the porosity of the soil, and partly by the 

 surface itself, which is descending, at the rate of six and one half 

 feet in eight rods. Water could not long stand upon any part of 

 that land, and the whole experiment is a grand triumph over suppos- 

 ed impossibilities. It is true the vines have not yet had a trial of 

 even a single year. But if the difiicult stage of taking root is pas- 

 sed ; if the plant ' has sought and found its proper aliment, if in 

 short it has in its new and strange situation already taken root down 

 ward and borne fruit upward, what other greater difficulty can there 

 be? It is believed there is none. 



It is not to be forgotten that the foregoing facts are in singular 

 contrast with nearly all that has been written and published upon the 

 subject of cranberry culture. The Yarmouth Register seems to lead 

 oBF, and coming from Barnstable county, where the Halls, the Hal- 

 lets and the Thatchers have so long been sowing and reaping, its au- 

 thority seems to be unquestioned. What mode does the "Register*' 

 recommend ? As quoted in the Pat. OflF. Rep. before referred to, 

 this authority says, "the cranberry will live and grow in compara- 

 tively dry soils, but ivlll not hear fruit unless its roots are immersed 

 in ivater all the year:' Again, ^Hhere must he an abundant siq^ply 

 of water all the year:'' again, "the ground must be saturated with 

 water;" and again, ''in a selection of a situation for his cranberry 



