LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 



U. S. Department of Agriculture, 



Bureau of Plant Industry, 



Office of the Chief, 

 Washington, D. C, July 19, 1910. 



Sir : I have the honor to transmit herewith and to recommend for 

 publication as Bulletin No, 193 of the series of this Bureau a manu- 

 script by Mr. Frederick V. Coville, Botanist in Charge of Taxonomic 

 and Range Investigations, entitled " Experiments in Blueberry Cul- 

 ture." Mr. Coville has found by experiment how blueberries differ 

 from ordinary plants in their method of nutrition and in their soil 

 requirements, and by means of this knowledge he has worked out a 

 system of pot culture under which these plants attain a development 

 beyond all previous expectations. There is good prospect that the 

 application of the knowledge thus gained will establish the blue- 

 berry in field culture and that ultimately improved varieties of these 

 plants will be grov>'n successfully on a commercial scale. 



A particularly interesting and significant feature of these experi- 

 ments is the light they shed on the possible utilization of the natu- 

 rally acid lands that occupy extensive areas in the eastern United 

 States. These lands are generally valued at a low price, and the 

 chief expense involved in their utilization for ordinary agricultural 

 crops is the cost of correcting their acidity and its effects by liming, 

 fertilizing, and cultural manipulation. The question presents itself, 

 '' May we not more effectively utilize such lands by growing on them 

 crops which, like the blueberry, thrive in acid soils ? " 



Some of the experimental methods and equipment utilized by Mr. 

 Coville are commended to other plant experimenters, especially the 

 use of darkened and drained glass pots for the intimate observation 

 of the behavior of roots, and the plunging of pots in moist sand to 

 maintain equable moisture and aeration conditions. 

 Respectfully, 



Wm. a. Taylor, 

 Acting Chief of Bureau. 



Hon. James "Wilson, 



Secretary of Agriculture. 



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