88 EXPERIMENTS IN BLUEBERRY CULTURE. 



filled with peat or j^eat mixture the acidity of which has been 

 tempered by several months of decomposition. 



In all the field plantings thus far made the plants were set out 

 while in full growth. Although most of them were in pots when 

 transplanted, and therefore carried their entire root system with 

 them, nevertheless it is regarded as highly probable that a better 

 plan would be to set the plants out when dormant, in the early spring 

 of their second year. Such a plan would offer several advantages 

 Avhich it is hardly necessary to recount. 



For several days after transi^lanting, the plants were partially 

 shaded. Paper and the branches of various trees and bushes were 

 tried for this purpose. Pine branches stuck in the ground on the 

 south side of the plants were found b}' far the best of the shades used. 



The soil about the plants was mulched in most cases with dead 

 leaves, held in place when necessary by a little earth thrown over 

 them. 



CONCLUSION. 



In conclusion, to those desiring to experiment with the field culture 

 of the swamp blueberry, whether with wild plants, seedlings, or 

 plants grown from cuttings, two modes of treatment are suggested, 

 both deduced from the experiments already made. The first method, 

 suited to upland soils, is to set the plants in trenches or separate 

 holes in well-rotted peat at least a foot in depth, and mulch the sur- 

 face well either with leaves or with clean sand. The excavations 

 should provide ample space for new growth of the roots, not less 

 than a foot each way from the surface of the old root ball. The peat 

 used may be of either the bog or upland type, as described on pages 

 32 to 35 of this publication, and should have been rotted for several 

 months before using. The soil in which the holes or trenches are 

 situated should be such as to provide good drainage, the ideal condi- 

 tion of the peat about the roots of the plant being one of continued 

 moisture during the growing season, but with all the free water drain- 

 ing away readily so that thorough aeration of the mass of peat is 

 assured. If the surrounding soil is sufficiently porous to insure the 

 maintenance of such a moist and aerated condition, without the neces- 

 sity of mixing sand with the peat, better growth, it is believed, will 

 be secured than when such a mixture is used. 



The second method of field culture suggested is to set out the plants 

 in a peat bog after the bog has been drained, turfed, and deeply 

 mulched with sand. The treatment proposed is the same as that 

 employed in cranberry culture, except that no special provision need 

 be made for rapid flooding of the bog for winter. The ground water 

 in the bog may probably be kept with advantage a little lower than 

 is usual with cranberries. This method of culture is suggested not 



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