14 THE CRANBERRY.
or the cranberry sauce, without which a thanksgiving
turkey is now considered shorn of half its glory.
These cranberries, however, were wild, and of an
austere flavor, just as the potatoes which Sir Walter
Raleigh first discovered and carried with him to-England were but the puny progenitors of the large and
mealy affairs which now, as Chenangoes, Irish, or
under other specific names, appear daily on every table.
It is not positively known from what' particular
country the cranberry originally came. Most probably, like many other fruits and plants, it is indigenous to many soils. One thing is certain, that in
various parts of America, both North and South, it
exists in a wild state, in various parts, in great profusion, and it is not unreasonable to suppose, that there
are at this moment uncountable acres in this country
where it abounds unheeded, and only allowed to run
waste because the value of the berries is not known.
On many of the vast steppes of Russia wild cranberries
abound, and even amid the wastes of Siberia it is occasionally to be met with. Indeed, the Russian cranberries proved for a long time to be no inconsiderable
portion of the exports of that country, and even until
the breaking out of the Eastern War, there were to be
seen among bales of hides, hogsheads of tallow, bundles
of bristles, and bales of hemp, certain quaint-looking
earthen jars, which. contained 'cranberries for the use
14 THE CRANBERRY.
or the cranberry sauce, without which a thanksgiving
turkey is now considered shorn of half its glory.
These cranberries, however, were wild, and of an
austere flavor, just as the potatoes which Sir Walter
Raleigh first discovered and carried with him to-England were but the puny progenitors of the large and
mealy affairs which now, as Chenangoes, Irish, or
under other specific names, appear daily on every table.
It is not positively known from what' particular
country the cranberry originally came. Most probably, like many other fruits and plants, it is indigenous to many soils. One thing is certain, that in
various parts of America, both North and South, it
exists in a wild state, in various parts, in great profusion, and it is not unreasonable to suppose, that there
are at this moment uncountable acres in this country
where it abounds unheeded, and only allowed to run
waste because the value of the berries is not known.
On many of the vast steppes of Russia wild cranberries
abound, and even amid the wastes of Siberia it is occasionally to be met with. Indeed, the Russian cranberries proved for a long time to be no inconsiderable
portion of the exports of that country, and even until
the breaking out of the Eastern War, there were to be
seen among bales of hides, hogsheads of tallow, bundles
of bristles, and bales of hemp, certain quaint-looking
earthen jars, which. contained 'cranberries for the use
