THE HEATH-FRUITS 203 



must be handled with care for distant shipment, but are well 

 suited for canning and drying. Most of the crop canned in New 

 England and Michigan is of this species; the industry of can- 

 ning them is now extensive. The berries hang on the bushes 

 until all are ripe, so that pickers can harvest them with great 

 rapidity. The aborigines set the example to early settlers of 

 sun-drying and smoke-drying this blueberry for winter use, 

 and the practice of drying in the sun still survives. This spe- 

 cies may sometime be domesticated, in its many forms, for the 

 very poorest soils or for shady places. 



Huckleberries 



306. Botanical characters of huckleberries. — The huckleberry 

 belongs to the genus Gaylussacia, plants closely allied to Vac- 

 cinium, in which genus they were at one time included. Generic 

 differences for separating the two are found in the structure 

 of the fruit and in the leaves. Fruits of Vaccinium are four- 

 or five-celled, with many small seeds, while those of Gaylussacia 

 are ten-celled and contain ten rather large hard-walled seeds 

 which are really nutlets. The leaves of Gaylussacia are liberally 

 besprinkled with resinous dots; those of Vaccinium have no 

 dots. Five species are found in North America, of which four 

 yield fruits esteemed as they come from wild plants, and which 

 give promise of valuable domesticated fruits. These species are 

 G. haccata, Koch., the black huckleberry; G. frondosa, Torr. & 

 Gray, the blue huckleberry; G. ursina, Torr. & Gray, the bear 

 huckleberry; and G. dumosa, Torr. & Gray, the dwarf huckle- 

 berry. 



307. Pomologlcal characters of huckleberries. — The huckle- 

 berry is not so popular as the blueberry because of the hard 

 seeds, which are objectionable in eating. There is, however, 

 great variation in the size and hardness of the seeds, and under 

 cultivation forms could be selected with fewer, smaller, and 

 softer seeds. Except for the seeds, huckleberries are as pleas- 

 antly flavored and as palatable as blueberries, and in spite of 

 the seeds find ready sale in the markets. There are no data on 

 which to form an opinion as to whether huckleberries will yield 

 readily to cultivation. Presumably, the difficulties of domesti- 

 cation will be no greater than with the blueberry. In the wild, 



