It's not easy to find a better adaptation of nature's conditions to a crop than one sees in the cranberry. The Old Colony got from the glacial invasion and the resulting breakup of old drainage more than its share of swampy flats. . . . [it's] usually easy to find a sand bank in neighborly relation to the bog, and exposure to oceanic [Image] influences has given a longer season  without killing frosts than is found in most parts of northern states.   --Albert Perry Brigham,1920  Cape Cod and the Old Colony

copyright: M. Salett 1998

 During the final incursion of the Laurentide ice sheet into the Northeastern United States 18,000 to 10, 000 years ago, the terminal moraine, or southernmost limit, of the glaciers ran from present-day Long Island to Nantucket.  When the glaciers melted, they deposited enormous quantities of rock, gravel, sand and silt to form Cape Cape Cod and the islands (Oldale, 1992). Underlain with impervious hardpan, the glacial till and outwash plains of the Cape and southeastern Massachusetts were an ideal environment, hydrologically and geologically, for the formation of natural peatlands -- which, in turn, provided the right conditions for cultivated cranberry bogs (Sandler 1997).

        Natural peatlands developed where drainage was impeded and water collected: in kettleholes where huge blocks of ice became trapped in the sediments and melted in place; and in outwash channels, where glacial meltwater streams subsided into barely-flowing wetlands (Sandler 1997). Poorly-drained kettle ponds and outwash bogs developed into water-saturated, anaerobic, acidic environments where Sphagnum mosses flourished. Bogs are dominated by Sphagnum mosses and Ericads (heaths) including the American cranberry. Other peat-based wetlands include red maple swamps and Atlantic white cedar swamps. Many swamps were mined for "bog iron" in the 18th century and later abandoned.  The natural swamps and bogs of Cape Cod and Southeastern Massachusetts were considered useless land by the settlers of Cape Cod until they realized that these wetlands could be converted into valuable cranberry bogs easily and economically (Thomas 1990).
 
 
The "ruby of the bog" becomes a cash crop

 People gathered wild cranberries from natural peatlands on a catch-as-catch-can basis well into the 19th century. However, these natural harvests varied considerably in abundance from bog to bog and from year to year, depending on weather and other environmental factors.  The American cranberry didn't come under cultivation until 1816 with Henry Hall's accidental -- yet fortuitous -- discovery of sanding cranberries and his subsequent experiments in transplanting cranberry vines (Thomas 1990).
 
    Hall, a veteran of the Revolutionary War, was a farmer in North Dennis,  on Cape Cod.  While clearing brush from a knoll on his land, Hall inadvertently exposed a patch of wild cranberries to windblown sands, which covered the vines.  Instead of dying, the vines grew more vigorously the following spring; they also produced more and larger berries that fall (Fawsett 1990).  Hall noticed the difference and transplanted wild cranberry vines to a small bog on his property where he applied his new sanding technique (Eck 1990).  His plants thrived and his yield increased.   Noting Hall's success, Elkanah Sears transplanted some cranberry vines to Scargo Lake in East Dennis in 1819; other Cape Cod farmers and retired sea captains followed suit and transplanted wild cranberries to sandblown locations near salt meadows and Cape Cod Bay (Thomas 1990).   Thus, the nascent cranberry industry blossomed on Cape Cod.  However, cranberry cultivation remained simply a local supplement to other agricultural and maritime incomes for approximately 30 years.

    Between the 1840's and 1860's, the cranberry industry was burgeoning due to a combination of successful cultivation methods and outside economic forces. First, the innovations and experiments of several early growers set the foundations for larger-scale and lucrative cranberry cultivation.    In 1845, sea captain Alvin Cahoon planted "8 rods to berries" at Pleasant Lake in Harwich, creating the nation's first commercial cranberry bog (Brigham 1920).  By 1852, his "cranberry yards" had grown to approximately five acres but further expansion was blocked by Seymour's Pond.   Cahoon and his sons drained part of the pond by digging a canal  to Pleasant Lake (Hinckley's Pond) in order to plant additional cranberry bogs along the exposed shore and to control  water levels on the bogs (Thomas 1990).  Wetlands preservation was not an issue in 19th-century  Cape Cod or New England.
 
      In 1847, Alvin's cousin, Captain Cyrus Cahoon also began cultivating cranberries at Pleasant Lake.  A couple of these Harwich bogs are still under production[ today -- 150 years after they were first planted.  [The trail map of the Punkhorn Parklands in Brewster (Cape Cod), MA, denotes several active and abandoned cranberry bogs -- as well as the Cahoon Canal -- from the heyday of cranberry cultivation in Harwich.]  A pioneer of the cranberry industry, Cyrus Cahoon built the first level-floored cranberry bog which revolutionized cranberry cultivation (Thomas 1990).  He also developed the variety "Early Black," which his wife, Lettice, discovered at a bog on Black Pond in Harwich and named  because its berries were so deep red that they looked black (Burrows 1976).   "Early Black," along with "Howes," comprise 95% of theV. macrocarpon cultivars grown in Massachusetts today (Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Assn).  The Howes variety was developed in neighboring Dennis by Eli Howes in 1843.  (Burroughs 1976).

Cranberry Fever strikes Cape Cod (Barnstable County)
 

The culture of cranberries has become an object of much interest on the Cape in every town.  Every possible patch of land -- or rather swamp, most fit for the culture is being held at greatly advanced prices, and much of it is already in requisition for cranberry plats.  It is alleged that according to the yield of the last year (1859), each acre under culture is worth $10,000.....The expense of preparing the land for culture is very inconsiderable; and the tracts easily susceptible of being brought into cranberries and best adapted to the culture, have been hitherto comparatively valueless for other purposes.           -- Frederick Freeman           The History of Cape Cod

© M. Salett 1998

 

  Alvin Cahoon's drainage canal and Cyrus Cahoon's level-floored bog were viewed as major innovations that transformed "useless" wetlands such as swamps and bogs into productive agricultural land.  Not only were other farmers eager to follow suit, but citizens were exhorted to turn such parcels of wasteland into valuable commercial acreage.  Furthermore, "lowlands" were considered prime real estate for cranberry production.   In his Complete Manual for the Cultivation of the Cranberry published in 1856, Reverend Benjamin Eastwood exhorted his readers to "avoid upland mania" and recommended the following "proper locations for cranberry patches" to guarantee success: swamps, bogs, meadow land which is low and moist, a gradual slope coming down to the edge of a pond, and sandy patches of land or plats that are near to the sea-shore (Eastwood 1856).

 Taming the wild forests and  dreadful swamps of New England into farms and villages similar to those of the Old World was a goal of the settlers since the Pilgrims first arrived in America. That the natural ecosystems of Cape Cod were valuable in their own right was beyond the frame of reference of our pragmatic ancestors who were all too eager to make a cash crop grow out of previously useless land. A five-acre cranberry bog would provide a comfortable living for a Cape Cod farmer and his family in the 1850's; a ten-acre cranberry bog placed him in the lap of luxury (Burrows 1990).  In addition, local towns in Southeastern Massachusetts filled their coffers with tax dollars on land assessed as cranberry bogs -- land that was previously deemed so worthless that it was untaxable.   The Barnstable County census listed 197 acres under cranberry production in 1855; by 1865, 1074 acres of former wetlands were cultivated for cranberries (Burrows 1976, Thomas 1990).   On Cape Cod, as throughout the United States,  natural wetlands were destroyed or altered for agricultural purposes at alarming rates.
 
 In economic terms, "cranberry fever" couldn't have struck at a better time than the middle of the 19th century.  After the Civil War, Cape Cod's major industries -- fishing and shipbuilding -- suffered significant losses due to industrial trends beyond New England.  Shipbuilding on the Cape declined because wooden sailing vessels were replaced by iron steamships and goods were transported increasingly by rail instead of by ships  (Burrows 1976).   Rail transportation also hurt New England's fisheries by giving a competitive edge to other fisheries in supplying fish to inland markets -- fresh fish from the Great Lakes and halibut and salmon from the West Coast (Brigham 1920).    The fishing industry had other problems, too.  New England fisheries, especially offshore fisheries,  experienced great declines in landings in the decades following the Civil War, and also began to feel pressure from "the upgrowth of summer life on the shore" through tourism and development (Brigham 1920).  Sea captains and fishermen who owned suitable marshy land were able to retire from seafaring enterprises and turn to cranberry cultivation in order to support their families (Thomas 1990).

    Fortuitously, as the number of cranberry growers on Cape Cod continued to rise, consumer demand for the fruit also was increasing rapidly.  Once again, technology beyond the shores of Cape Cod contributed to the success of cranberry industry.  Nationally, new manufacturing processes made white sugar economically available for everyday use -- including sweetening the naturally-tart cranberry in sauces and other recipes (Burrows 1976).

Cranberry industry shifts to Plymouth County

    By 1880, most of the land on Cape Cod that was suitable for cranberry  production was under cultivation (Cole and Gifford 1983).   Many growers recognized Plymouth County's potential for the agricultural and financial success of the cranberry industry. "Cranberry fever" hit Plymouth County where wetlands were plentiful and the pioneers of the modern cranberry industry were able to set up larger-scale commercial operations.    [Photo courtesy of Spinner Publications; copyright 1990]   Barnstable County had 2408 acres under cultivation compared with Plymouth County's 1347 acres in 1880; in 1895, Plymouth County's 3766 acres edged out Barnstable County's 3255 acres of cranberry bogs. By 1915, Plymouth County produced 61% of the cranberries in Massachusetts, and has remained the number-one cranberry producer in the state to this day (Thomas 1990).

    Several environmental factors played a role in shifting the center of the cranberry industry from Barnstable to Plymouth County:  Most significantly, the size and type of natural wetlands determined the amount of land available for cultivation.  Cranberry bogs on Cape Cod were built on small, quaking bogs or along kettlehole ponds; most ranged between 1/2 and 60 acres.  Plymouth county had vast tracts of peatlands suitable for cranberry cultivation; commercial bogs ranging from 1 to 200 acres were constructed from red maple swamps, white cedar swamps, or groundwater-fed rivers (Burrows 1976, Deubert & Caruso 1989).     Hydrologically, the swamps and groundwater-fed rivers of Plymouth County provided a more plentiful and reliable water source than quaking bogs for establishing reservoirs and for flooding the bogs when necessary (Burrows 1976, Cole and Gifford 1983).  Soil was poorer and more acidic on the Cape (Cole and Gifford 1983).  Over time, saltwater intrusion and hurricanes altered topography and damaged the bogs (Burrows 1976).  

  Economics was the major reason for building cranberry bogs in peatlands.  In an era that paid no heed to the intrinsic value of wetlands, converting cedar and maple swamps into cranberry bogs made sense.  James Webb wrote in 1886:
 
                    "A huckleberry, maple or cedar swamp [is preferable] to a fresh
                    meadow....[The bog] costs less to take care of it after it is planted.
                    Less grass and fewer weeds will grow in a swamp after it is first
                    cleared than in a meadow.  The swamp on which nothing but wood
                    has grown, has the best bottom; it is enriched by the decayed
                    leaves, etc. of years and no nutriment has ever been taked from
                    it by  other vegetation."    (Thomas 1990)

    In Plymouth County, many of the swamps in Wareham and Carver had been levelled and mined for "bog iron" during the 1700's [providing the colonists with weapons during the Revolutionary War], but were abandoned by the mid-1800's due to the discovery of more abundant tracts of high-grade ore in Pennsylvania and the Midwest (Deubert & Caruso 1989).  With the demise of the bog ore industry, many owners converted their ravaged swamps into productive cranberry bogs.   In 1878, George Bowers -- formerly of the bog iron industry -- and John Russell built the first large-scale cranberry bog, East Head Bog, in Plymouth County, setting the standard for the industry (Thomas 1990).    Bowers persuaded Abel Dennison Makepeace to moved off-Cape from Hyannis to Wareham in the late 1870's (Thomas 1990).  

    Known as the "Cranberry King," A. D. Makepeace (1832-1913) was instrumental in shaping the modern cranberry industry.  He purchased large parcels of swampland to expand his cranberry operations, noting: "the profits of cranberry culture are usually large...beyond comparison with any farm crop raised about here" (Thomas 1990).  He promoted high growing and shipping standards, and fostered technological improvements in from hand scoops to mechanical separators (Burrows 1990, Thomas 1990).  His company, the A.D. Makepeace Cranberry Co.,  became the largest cranberry producer in the U.S. (Burrows 1976).

    Makepeace was a founding member of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association, formed with the goal of promoting "the interests of its members in whatever pertains to the growth, cultivation, and sale of cranberries" and "for the benefit and advancement of the business"(Thomas 1990).  Comprised of 40 growers from Barnstable and Plymouth counties, the Association held its first meeting in July of 1988 (Thomas 1990).    In 1910, the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association established the Cranberry Experiment Station in East Wareham.

    Today:

            -  The cranberry is the largest agricultural crop in Massachusetts.  In 1996, the state produced almost 1.8 million barrels of cranberries, representing 35% of the world's cranberries and 38% of the U.S. crop.  Of the approximately 1,000 cranberry growers in North America, 560 are in Massachusetts  (Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association).

            -  The Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association represents  more than 480 growers in Massachusetts.

            - The Cranberry Experiment Station -- known as the State Bog -- is part of the University of Massachusetts Extension program.  Paul Eck (1990) describes the mission of the Massachusetts Cranberry experiment station: "many of the initial objectives... [are] ...still important concerns to cranberry growers today, namely, injurious and beneficial insects, diseases..., weather relations, cultivars, fertilizers, chemistry and food values of fruit, bog management (sanding), and water management....During the [past] 75 years, many of the preeminentcranberry researchers of the country worked... at the Massachusetts Cranberry Experiment Station."

            -  A.D. Makepeace Co. , the largest producer/owner in the Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. cooperative, "has the distinction of being the priciest stock in all of Massachusetts" at $11,600 per share -- the price two shares traded at in April 1998; approximately 80% of the stock is held by the Makepeace family, and the stock is rarely traded (Boston Globe, June 30, 1998, p. D1).