149 



ESSAY ON CRANBERRY CULTURE ON CAPE 



COD. 



BY O. 8. BtrTLER, OF GEORGETOWN. 



I have given my subject the above title from the fact 

 that the information gained, and which I shall endeavor 

 to communicate in regard to the cultivation of the cran- 

 berry, was derived from frequent visits to the cranberry 

 bogs of the cape, the last visit being made in 1886, at 

 which time I visited, more than two hundred separate bogs, 

 ranging in extent from one-third of an acre to one hun- 

 dred and fifty acres. The largest one I saw was located 

 in the town of Duxbury, Mass. This bog was owned and 

 worked by a corporation, and when I was there they had 

 a large force of men employed in enlarging their bogs. 



It may be of interest to know that the cultivation of 

 the cranberry on Cape Cod commenced nearly fifty years 

 ago. The first that we know of its cultivation was in the 

 town of Harwich, by a man by the name of Hiram Hall, 

 and this same town of Harwich still bears the palm among 

 the cape towns both in the extent and value of the cran- 

 berry culture and crop, and from the small beginnings of 

 fifty } r ears ago up to the present time, the business has 

 made a rapid growth, and at present stands at the head of 

 all other industries on the cape. I have it from the best 

 authority that the sale of cranberries has brought more 

 money on the cape during the last forty years than all 

 other home industries combined. One beautiful feature 

 in regard to this great increase of revenue is that it is dis- 

 tributed among all classes of the people. Almost even- 

 poor man that owns a little homestead has his cranberry 

 bog, although it may be very small, and it is a business 

 that can be carried on by women and children, after the 

 bogs have been prepared, just as well as by men. I found 

 many a poor woman that received an annual income from 

 a small cranberry bog of from one hundred to three hun- 

 dred dollars, with but very little expense for hired labor. 



