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enterprising American shall start the business of canning 

 the cranberry in its crude natural state, a market will be 

 opened up for this fruit in all the armies and navies of 

 the world, and all the hospitals and asylums of the world 

 will adopt their use. The demand for this fruit will in- 

 crease with the supply, and when put up in a form to 

 withstand the changes of climate and conditions, for an 

 indefinite period of time, it can never become a drug in 

 any market of the world, and where the average yield 

 amounts to from two hundred to ten hundred dollars an 

 acre, there must be a large margin of profit. 



In closing, I would repeat what I said at the beginning, 

 that Essex county is as well adapted to the cranberry 

 culture as Barnstable county, and we have thousands of 

 acres of meadow and swamp lands that are almost entirely 

 useless, that might be converted into cranberry bogs, and 

 under proper cultivation become the most profitable lands 

 on our farms. The town of Topsfield has a hundred acres 

 of this land, Middleton has more than that, and there is 

 hardly a town in the county that has not more or less of 

 this almost useless land. 



We hope to see a more thorough investigation of this 

 branch of agricultural industry in our own county, and 

 would express the hope that the trustees of the Essex 

 Agricultural Society may see their way clear to offer a 

 large premium for the best cranberry bog that shall be 

 made and cultivated during the next five years, said bog 

 to consist of not less than one half acre. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON ESSAYS, 

 REPORTS AND STATEMENTS. 



The Committee to whom was assigned the duty of award- 

 ing premiums for Essays, Reports, and Statements, are glad 

 to be able to say that the papers handed to them this year 

 are unusually good, both as respects their contents and the 



