314 TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY REPORT. 
many of the varieties described are now out of cultivation and it 
is consequently difficult to judge of the merit of these reports. 
There were included in these descriptions blooming and fruiting 
seasons of the various varieties, usually tabulated, detailed descrip- 
tions of the fruit itself very frequently, besides a host of minor 
investigations as to the value of irrigation for small fruits, com- 
parative merit of row system as compared with hill system for 
strawberries, etc. 
During the first ten years of the Station’s existence the greater 
portion of work on small fruits was on the strawberries, many 
varieties being reported on every year. Later blackberries, rasp- 
berries, currants and gooseberries came more into prominence. The 
currants and gooseberries were worked up quite thoroughly from 
the botanical as well as from the horticultural standpoint. In these 
two fruits we have both European and American species represented 
in the varieties under cultivation. As in the case of the grapes, the 
European species show greater susceptibility to fungus attacks than 
the American ones. This is compensated for in a degree by a 
superior quality of fruit. 
In the first report issued by this Station the subject of huckle- 
berries!§ was taken up, the horticulturist stating “it will hardly be 
denied that the huckleberry possesses better natural qualities than 
either the currant or gooseberry, yet the latter have been cultivated 
for centuries while the former has received very little attention — 
the reasons for this neglect do not appear.” Quotations from corre- 
spondence and from newspaper articles are given to prove that it is 
possible to cultivate huckleberries successfully, the chief difficulty 
being apparently that the seeds germinate and the plants mature 
very slowly, not bearing until they are from three to five years 
old; also, it is said that the dry seeds soon lose their vitality. 
There is considerable opportunity for confusion in discussing this 
subject owing to the fact that there are several plants quite different 
botanically, which in various portions of the United States pass 
under the name of huckleberry. Three of these are known botan- 
ically as Vaccinium corymbosum, V. pennsylvanicum and V. gaylus- 
sacia resinosa. Eight full grown plants of the first two species were 
transplanted to the Station gardens in the spring of 1882, and five 
of them grew, one of which blossomed but set no fruit. The next 
year a good many seeds of the huckleberry were planted and the 
* Rpt. 1:145 (1882). 
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