The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1905-10-25
A Cranberry Glade.

One of the most remarkable natu-
raj curiosities of Pocahontas coun-
ty is the bog known as the Gram
berry Glades says the Times. From
q distance it looks like highly
cultivated farm of six or seven
acres.
1t is located in basin and sur
rounded by very high mountains.
The GIady Fork of Cranberry river
rises next to the Barlow Top one
ofthe high points of the state.
The stream is clear and has a
rapid fall for several miles. Then
a bottom appears and just below
the bog widens out. The stream
winds its sluggish way through the
dark moras and when it energies
the water is muddy and repulsive,
and it is ten miles or more until the
stream becomes pure again and
throws off the noisome substances
accumulated in its journey through
the bog.
On the banks Of the stream the
soil is comparatively firm and the
surface is covered with elders and
the surface is covered with elders
and small bushes. At a certain
place the real morass is found. You
see what looks like a large field of
some hundred acres as level as q
floor. You think that there is
good walking at last. The first
step you take however causes you
to sink several inches and the
water wells up over your foot. You
feel as though you would sink if
you stood still and you keep walk
ing. The sinking makes the walk
ing very laborious. 1t is said to
be a good test of endurance to walk
across the bog when it is covered
with snow.
It is considered safe for man to
walk anywhere on this quagmire
though it is very uncomfortable to
feel the shaking of the bog beneath
the feet. A cow or horse would
certainly become begged if it at
tempted to walk on the surface
Poles can be thrust into the mire
many feet, little mountain streams
enter this basin from all sides and
are heard of no more.
An attempt to drain this bog was
made once without success. On
the banks are two very old improve
ments known as the Hoffman Kir
by places. No one lives in this
valley now but half century ago
it had its share of the citizenship
of the county.
It has the distinction of being
probably the only place in West
Virginia where cranberries abound
Hundreds of bushels could have
been gathered there this year. The
wild cranberry is as much superior
to the improved" fruit as wild
strawberries are better than tame.
The cranberry vine is more like
a blade of grass than anything else
and it is strange that such q slen-
der plant should bear such a large
fruit. The oranberries are found
among the morasses which protect
them from freezing until late in the
fall.
In the fall the hunters in this
vicinity are supplied with Gran
berry sauce which if the sugar hes
given out is little bit too sour for
consumption.
1t has been suggested that if 9
dam was placed across the narrows
where the outlet of the bog is that
lake could be easily formed, and
that after some years the vegetable
life of the bog would be destroyed
and that the weight of the water
would cause the earth to pack and
become solid and that when the
water was drained away that the
land would be in shape for farming.
It is said that such land is psrtiou-
larry good for celery and cabbages
The surgeon general of Japan