The Cranberry Industry

Cranberries, one of only three commercially grown fruits native to North America (blueberries and Concord grapes are the other two), are an important part of Massachusetts's history (For more history visit Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association website: www.cranberries.org)   Native Americans used wild cranberries for centuries in foods, medicines, and dyes. Captain Henry Hall, of Dennis, Massachusetts is credited with first cultivating cranberries. He observed that wild cranberries flourished, rather than suffered, when sand blew over them, transplanted vines to designated areas and fenced them in for protection in what he called "cranberry yards." His technique of manually spreading sand over cranberry vines has been used ever since. Cape Cod is credited with being the birthplace of the modern cranberry industry. The characteristics of the land provide the perfect combination of nutrients and environmental conditions for cranberry plants: acidic peat soil, an adequate supply of fresh water, sand, and a growing season from April to November. Plymouth County, having similar geographic characteristics, soon joined Cape Cod and by the 1850's was a major producer of cranberries. By the mid-1800s, cranberries were being produced in parts of New Jersey, which also possessed the ideal cranberry growing conditions found on Cape Cod and in Plymouth County. Wisconsin entered the cranberry industry by the 1860s. By 1885, the cranberry industry had stretched from the east to the west coast as cranberry growers emerged in Oregon and Washington. Canada also became a player in this growing industry; the two main cranberry producing provinces were British Columbia and Quebec. More detailed information on the history of the cranberry industry and the changes that led to recent conditions (PDF)