A COMMERCIALLY NEW BLUEBERRY 



George E. Murrell 

 Horticulturist for the Southern Railway, Washington, D. C. 



MA. SAPP lives 3^ miles from 

 Crest view, in northwestern 

 • Florida, about half-way be- 

 tween Pensacola and River 

 Junction. Some twenty years ago he 

 conceived the idea of testing as a horti- 

 cultural crop the wild plant known 

 locally as the high-bush swamp-huckle- 

 berry. While Mr. Sapp has no tech- 

 nical horticultural training or experience 

 in methods of plant breeding, he is one 

 of those men who combines keen powers 

 of observation with feeling for plants 

 and ability to apply himself closely to 

 a study of their requirements. Locally 

 he is known as a particularly successful 

 farmer. 



Mr. Sapp visited a swamp not far 

 from his place during the ripening 

 season and tagged the blueberry bushes 

 which appeared to him the most de- 

 sirable from the standpoint of produc- 

 tiveness and size of fruit. In the 

 succeeding autumn he transplanted one 

 hundred of the bushes he had tagged to 

 a well-drained field near his home, 

 settting them out in rows spaced so 

 that they would be 14 by 15 feet. 

 This made about 200 bushes to the 

 acre. He found that the suckers grew 

 readily and that in their new environ- 

 ment they made better growth and 

 fruited more profusely than they did in 

 their native swamp. When he began 

 to market the berries he encountered 

 such an excellent demand, and was able 

 to obtain such good prices, that he 

 decided to extend his planting. He now 

 has his original half acre, which is 

 twenty years old; an acre which is 

 twelve years old; 3 acres which are 

 five years old; and 2 acres two years 

 old, making a total of 8)^ acres. 



The plants commence bearing the 

 second year after being set in the field, 

 and at five years of age yield com- 

 mercial crops of fruit. From the age of 



eight onwards they average half a 

 bushel of fruit per plant annually, 

 making the yield 3,200 quarts from 

 an acre. 



At the present time there is little 

 apparent difference in productiveness 

 between the twelve-year-old bushes and 

 those twenty years old. There are, 

 however, distinct types of plants occur- 

 ring in the plantation. One type is 

 stocky, compact, freely branching in 

 habit, reaching about 8 feet in height 

 and spread, with the fruit well distrib- 

 uted throughout the plant. The leaves 

 of this type are ^ inch by 13^ inch in 

 size, lead-blue in color, with a distinct 

 bloom upon the upper surface. The 

 second tyj^ is erect in habit, many 

 stemmed, 10 to 12 feet in height, with 

 the fruit borne mainly on the ends of 

 the branches. The leaves of this type 

 are 1 inch by 2 inches in size, pale 

 green in color. In addition to these two 

 principal types there are several inter- 

 mediate ones, varying in season of 

 ripening and size of berry. 



The botanical standing of this blue- 

 berry is somewhat in doubt. The 

 description of Vaccinium virgatum Ait. 

 appears to cover this species, yet there 

 are certain differences which may, 

 when the plant is studied more carefully, 

 lead to its being classified differently. 



Variation in productiveness is marked. 

 In 1918, one bush yielded 20 quarts at 

 a single picking, 3 bushels during the 

 season. Others do not yield so abun- 

 dantly. Mr. Sapp has found that the 

 compact bushes are, in general, as 

 productive as the tall ones, and the 

 fruit is more easily gathered, hence he 

 is confining his plantings at present to 

 this type. 



The season extends from May 20 to 

 August 20, the bulk of the crop ripening 

 in June and July. Pickings are made 

 weekly throughout this period. The 



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