Ovalleaf whortleberry (V. ovctiifo'lium), also known as blue whortleberry, 

 and as big, ovalleaf, or tall bilberry, is a large straggling shrub from 3 to 12 

 feet high, with slender, more or less angled branches and thin, egg-shaped leaves. 

 It grows in both dry and moist woods, in meadows, and in swamps from Quebec 

 to Michigan, Oregon, Alaska, and Japan, from sea level to an elevation of about 

 5,500 feet. In some places, it furnishes browse for sheep and gouts. 2 This 

 shrub abounds in the Northwest ; in Alaska, it forms a large part of the forest 

 undergrowth in the low country along the coast, where it averages about 4 

 feet in height. The large, dark purple berries ripen in September. The late 

 General Funston, the capturer of Aguinaldo, reports them as an important food 

 in Alaska, where they are picked extensively by the natives, who either imme- 

 diately consume the fresh fruit or preserve and dry it for winter use. 7 



Red whortleberry (V. parvifo'lium), the largest of the western "blueberries", 

 sometimes reaching a height of 18 feet, ranges from sea level to an elevation of 

 about 5,000 feet, from Alaska to California, west of the Cascade and Sierra 

 Nevada Mountains. It occurs most commonly in moist, coniferous woods, 

 chiefly in stands of Sitka spruce, Douglas fir, and redwood ; it attains its best 

 development on moist sites in the spruce type, where both duff and humus have 

 accumulated. The thin, moderately palatable leaves and slender, delicate twigs 

 of this shrub, which is frequently abundant amidst plants of low forage utility, 

 make it of some local value for sheep and, occasionally, for cattle ; the species 

 is also an important game browse in certain localities. The green branches of 

 this plant are sharply angled ; the rather sparse leaves are oblong or egg-shaped, 

 entire, more or less rounded at both ends, an inch or less in length, dull green in 

 color, and pale beneath ; the greenish white flowers are globe-shaped ; the berries 

 are light red, rather dry, and, although acid, have a pleasant flavor. 



Blueberries are now cultivated comercially both in the eastern United 

 States and in the Pacific Northwest, but less commonly in the Southeast. Their 

 culture is not difficult, although they require an acid soil (especially one com- 

 posed of peat and sand), plenty of moisture, and satisfactory drainage and 

 aeration. 8 When once established, the plants survive indefinitely. The culti- 

 vated blueberries are chiefly improved varieties of highbush blueberry (V. 

 coryvnbo' sum) , also known as swamp blueberry, a native of the United States, 

 growing in acid bogs, meadows, and moist or rocky woods from Newfoundland 

 to Minnesota and southward to Louisiana and Georgia. The cultivated varieties, 

 which outyield and produce larger berries than the wild species, were developed 

 largely by Dr. Frederick V. Coville, of the United States Department of Agricul- 

 ture. Dr. Coville's experimental work in the improvement and technical breed- 

 ing of blueberries paved the way for their commercial production. He was 

 assisted ably in this work by Miss Elizabeth C. White, of New Lisbon, N. J., who 

 supplied much of the foundation stock for the plant breeding experiments and 

 later pioneered the commercialization of the new domesticated varieties. 8 These 

 improved horticultural varieties do not breed true because they are crosses or 

 hybrids ; hence, seedlings should not be used in the establishment of commercial 

 blueberry patches. 6 The expansion of commercial plantings throughout the 

 areas where blueberries are grown apparently depends primarily upon the 

 development of successful, quick methods of propagation. 10 Improvement in 

 propagation by cuttings offers the greatest possibilities. 



Lowbush blueberry (V. angustifo'lium, syn. V. pennsylva'nicnm Lam., not 

 Mill.), present in dry hills and woods from Newfoundland to Saskatchewan, 

 Wisconsin, Illinois, and Virginia, produces a sweet bluish-black berry, the 

 earliest maturer in the North, and furnishes the bulk of the blueberries for the 

 eastern markets. Improved sorts, however, have not been developed to any 

 extent. 



Commercial blueberry plantings from the eastern highbush blueberry in the 

 Northwest, especially in Washington, were begun in 1917 by Henry C. Gane with 

 plants secured from Dr. Coville. 11 Some attempt has also been made there to 



T Funston F. BOTANY OF TAKUTAT BAT, ALASKA. (BOTANICAL REPORT BY F. v. COVILLE.) 

 TJ. S. Dept. Agr., Div. Bot., Contrib. U. S. Natl. Herbarium 3(6) : 325-351. 1896. 



8 Coville F. V. DIRECTIONS FOR BLUEBERRY CULTURE, 1921. U. S. Dept. Agr. Bull. 974, 

 24 pp.. illus. 1921. 



9 Bailey, J. S., and Franklin. H. J. BLUEBERRY CULTURE IN MASSACHUSETTS. Mass. 

 Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. 317, 19 pp., illus. 1935. 



10 Ware L M PROPAGATION STUDIES WITH THE SOUTHERN BLUEBERRY. Miss. Agr. 

 Expt. Sta. Bull. 280, 40 pp., illus. 1930. 



"Crowley, D. J. OBSERVATIONS AND EXPERIMENTS WITH BLUEBERRIES IN WESTERN 

 WASHINGTON. Wash. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. 276, 19 pp., illus. 1933. 



