Why were cranberry bogs created?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
December 10, 2002
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About 1,000 years ago, the Norse mined and smelted bog iron in the marshes of Newfoundland. The Norse settlements eventually failed. The bog iron industry renewed in the 1600s when colonists began settling along the eastern seaboard--New Jersey, Long Island, and northward into Massachusetts. (See Plants that Changed History, November 26, 2002)
Starting around 1607, the American colonies became the dumping ground for 'undesirables--criminals, orphans, homeless, and political prisoners. During the 1650s, Oliver Cromwell shipped Scottish prisoners-of-war to the colonies indentured for five or more years as laborers. (See Plants that Changed History, April 30, 2002) Rhonda Amon reported that Cromwell sent at least some of the Scots to Long Island to build a smelting furnace for bog iron taken from the Peconic River. ("Mining the Peconic for Iron", Long Island History)
The swamps and pinelands were perfect for the production of iron. The peat soils provided the ore, trees provided the charcoal, and oyster shells from the coast and native shell mounds provided the lime (calcium). Production of iron got away from English control. Locals harvested the 'iron plantations' (bogs) and blacksmiths built their own smelters to provide for the needs of their communities. By the time of the Revolutionary War, smithies were producing ammunition for the colonies. British forces destroyed any smelter they came across.
In the early 1800s, the swamps and pinelands were depleted of ore. With coal beds and high-grade ore discovered in Pennsylvania, the iron industry moved out of the bogs. Landowners were left with no income and an environment devastated by the loss of trees. One of the first plants to recolonize the damaged wetlands was the cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon Aiton). The fruit had previously only been harvested from the wild. Landholders transformed their used-up iron plantations into profitable cranberry bogs.
On the UCLA campus, Professor Arthur C. Gibson has since 1984 taught a course on economic botany, entitled "Plants and Civilization." To read his article "BERRY IN THE BOG", click on the link:
http://www.botgard.ucla.edu/html/botanytextbooks/economicbotany/Vaccinium/
The University of Massachusetts Amherst has a great article with photographs entitled "Natural History of the American Cranberry". To read the article, click on the link:
http://www.umass.edu/cranberry/cranberry/seasons.shtml
Series: | 1 | | 2 | | 3 |
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
What is bog iron? Plants that Changed History - November 26, 2002
What is a spoon tree? What's in a Name? - July 29, 2005
What was the outhouse vine? What's in a Name? - March 5, 2004
What insect came to America with German mercenaries? Renfield's Garden - September 12, 2001
Who was John Tradescant? What's in a Name? - December 13, 2002
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