FINE WILD BERRIES.
Cranberries grow in boggy land in various parts of North America, and Europe, and require to be flooded during the winter time to keep the plants from freezing and being heaved out of the ground. Flooding of the lower parts of the plants during growing time is practised; but with the approach of autumn, which is the season of harvest, the bogs are drained in order that the picking can be done.
The oval red berries are less than an inch long, thin-skinned, with small seeds in a corky white pulp. They look very pretty on the branches of the evergreen bushes that stand close, a foot or so in height, and look like a level, green velvet carpet.
The bog is laid off in strips by the stretching of ropes, and the pickers gather the berries by hand, or with rake scoops, that comb them off, wholesale.
Cape Cod is the biggest cranberry region in the East. Wisconsin and Michigan have large areas from which this crop is marketed.
Huckleberries, whortleberries, blueberries, and cranberries, all are names that call up memories of delightful berrying expeditions into the wilds, and delicious tarts, pies, and preserves made of the fruit at home. It is hard to believe that culti vation can add to the value of these wild species. Some attempts have proved that great increase in size is to be expected, when the work is seriously taken in hand. The only way to improve them, we think, is to multiply the available supply, and bring them where everybody can have all he wants.