14 EXPEEIMENTS IN BLUEBEREY CULTURE. 



AVliat has been said regarding the high cost of picking ordinary 

 bhieberries by hand indicates the importance of securing a berry of 

 large size if the plant is to be cultivated. Large size and abundance 

 mean a great reduction in the cost of picking. Large size means 

 also a higher market price, and when taken in connection with good 

 color and good market condition it means a much higher price. 



The writer's interest was attracted to the subject of blueberry cul- 

 ture in 1906. In the autumn of that year some experiments were 

 made for him by Mr. George W. Oliver to ascertain a suitable method 

 of wrminatine: the seeds. In the autumn of 1907 special cultural ex- 

 periments were taken up. In 1908 experiments were begiui in the 

 propagation of bushes bearing berries of large size, the most satis- 

 factory of these being a Xew Hampshire bush of the swamp blueberry 

 {Vaccinium corymbosum) having berries a little more than half an 

 inch in diameter. The largest berries tried, a little more than five- 

 eighths of an inch in diameter, were from Oregon bushes of Vac- 

 cinium membranaceum. Except where otherwise stated, the experi- 

 ments described in this paper were made with Yaccinium corym- 

 hosurw. The principal results of the experiments are given under 

 brief numbered statements, each followed by a detailed explanation. 



PECULIARITIES OF GROWTH IN THE BLUEBERRY PLANT. 



SOIL REQUIREMENTS. 



(1) The swamp blueberry does not thrive in a rich garden soil of the 

 ordinary type. 



Although the statement just made might well rest on the direct 

 observation of experimenters who have failed to make blueberries 

 grow luxuriantly, or sometimes even remain alive, in rich garden 

 soils, nevertheless the citation of one of the writer's experiments may 

 serve to accentuate the fact. The soil chosen for the purpose was the 

 one used at the United States Department of Agriculture for grow- 

 ing roses. A sample of this soil, as mixed by the rose gardener, con- 

 sisted, according to his specifications, of " five shovelfuls of loam, one 

 shovelful of cow manure, and a handful of lime." The loam used 

 was a rotted grass turf grown on a rather clayey soil. The cow 

 manure was well rotted, having lain in the pile for several months, 

 with almost no admixture of straw. The lime was of the ordinary 

 air-slaked sort. 



The pots used in the experimei*t were of glass, small 5-ounce drink- 

 ing glasses, about 2 inches in diameter at the bottom, 2^ at the top, 

 and 25 inches deep. A small hole bored through the bottom gave the 

 necessary drainage to the soil in the pot. Since the walls of these 

 pots were transparent, the normal growth of the roots and the pre- 



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