THE CRANBERRY. 28*7 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE CRANBERRY. 



Oxycocais, Arb. Brit. Ericacece, of botanists. 



Airelle, of the French ; Die Moosebeere, German ; Veen bessen, Dutch ; 

 Ossicocco, Italian. 



THE Cranberry is a familiar trailing shrub growing wild in 

 swampy, sandy meadows, and mossy bogs, in the northern por- 

 tions of both hemispheres, and produces a round, red, acid fruit. 

 Our native species, ( macrocarpus,) so common in the swamps 

 of New-England, and on the borders of our inland lakes, as to 

 form quite an article of commerce, is much the largest and finest 

 species ; the European Cranberry, ( 0. palustris,) being much 

 smaller in its growth, and producing fruit inferior in size and 

 quality. Also the Russian, ( 0. viridis,) a medium sized variety, 



Of the 0. macrocarpus, there are three varieties : The 

 "Bell-shaped," which 'is the largest and most valued, of a very 

 dark, bright red colour. The " Cherry," two kinds, large and 

 small ; the large one the best, of a round form, a fine, dark 

 red berry, nearly or quite equal to the Bell-shaped ; and the 

 Bugle, Oval, or Egg-shaped, two kinds, large and small, not so 

 high coloured as the Bell and Cherry not so much prized, but 

 still a fine variety. 



The value of the common cranberry for tarts, preserves and 

 other culinary uses, is well known, and in portions of the country 

 where it does not naturally grow, or is not abundantly produced, 

 it is quite worth while to attempt its culture. Although, natu- 

 rally, it grows mostly in mossy, wet land, yet it may be easily 

 cultivated in beds of peat soil, made in any rather moist situation, 

 and if a third of old thoroughly decayed manure is added to the 

 peat, the berries will be much larger and of more agreeable fla- 

 vour than the wild ones. A square of the size of twenty feet, 

 planted in this way, will yield three or four bushels annually 

 quite sufficient for a family. The plants are easily procured, 

 and are generally taken up like squares of sod or turf, and 

 planted two or three feet apart, when they quickly cover the 

 whole beds. 



In some parts of New-England, low and coarse meadows, of. 

 no value, have been drained and turned to very profitable account, 

 by planting them with this fruit. The average product is from 

 eighty to one hundred bushels of cranberries, worth at least one 

 dollar a bushel, and the care they require after the land is once 



