54 



EXPEEIMENTS IN BLUEBERRY CULTURE. 



Although the leaves of the parent plant had entire margins, the 

 leaves of the young seedlings were invariably serrulate. It was only 

 after the plants were several months old that any of the branches 

 began to produce leaves with entire margins, and some of the seedlings 

 from this parent give promise of permanently retaining the serrulate 

 leaf character. (See p. 82.) 



(21) The seedlings are first transplanted at the age of about six weeks, 



WHEN they are APPROACHING AN INCH IN HEIGHT. 



On October 24 the first transplanting was done from tlie seed flats 

 of 1908. A neAv flat was filled to a depth of 2 inches, trodden down 

 hard, wnth the following mixture : 



Knlmia peat, rotted for several months and 



rubbed through a quarter-inch sieve 8 parts by bulk. 



Sand, coarse, washed 1 part by bulk. 



Loam, clayey, finely sifted 1 part by bulk. 



This soil mixture Avas used as the result of experience of the two 

 preceding years. From a few experiments made in the winter of 



1906-7 it had been found that a mixture of 

 equal parts, by bulk, of peat, sand, and 

 loam was decidedly superior to loam and 

 manure or to sand, sphagnum, and loam. 

 In tlie winter of 1907-8 it was found that 

 the amount of sand and loam could be re- 

 duced Avith distinct advantage, and as a 

 result of the experiments then made many 

 of the cultures of 1908-9 were groAvn in 

 the mixture described aboA'e (peat 8, sand 

 1, loam 1). The retention of the loam Avas 

 due to an idea that this ingredient Avoiild 

 furnish some necessary mineral nutrient 

 not furnished by the peat. From an ex- 

 periment made in the summer of 1909, 

 howcA-er (p. 69), it Avas found that under 

 the system of handling the pots descril)ed 

 on page 67 large plants repotted in a peat 

 soil Avith no loam AAdiatever made a better 

 groAvth than those potted in a peat con- 

 taining a tenth part of loam. There is some reason, therefore, to 

 susj^eet that loam, even in such a small quantity, may be slightly 

 injurious, and more reason to suspect that it may be superfluous. 

 Exi^eriments intended to throAv light on this question are noAv in 

 progress. 



In the soil of the flat, prepared as described aboA^e, 80 plants Avere 

 set 2 inches apart. They Avere pricked out of the seed bed and set 



193 



Fig. 21. — Blueberry seedling 

 about six weeks old, with five 

 foliage leaves. (Enlarged i! 

 diameters. ) 



