DELIGHTFUL BERRIES 337 



Certainly the gooseberry is well worthy of 

 greater attention, from some plant developer 

 who works along modern lines, than it has hither- 

 to received. 



THE BLUEBERRY AND CRANBERRY 



Another interesting tribe of plants supplies us 

 with the familiar market fruits known as bilber- 

 ries, blueberries, and cranberries. 



These berries are little grown in the garden, 

 but remain even to this day products of the wild, 

 although the bushes on which they grow may be 

 taken under man's protection and given a cer- 

 tain encouragement in woodland or swamp. 



The botanist classifies the various blueberries 

 and cranberries in the genus Vaccinium. There 

 are widely scattered representatives of the tribe 

 in both hemispheres. Most of them are branch- 

 ing shrubs or creeping vines. A large proportion 

 of them are vigorous shrubs like the various blue- 

 berries ; whereas on the other hand the cranberry 

 is a trailing evergreen. The varieties in the dif- 

 ferent species are so numerous as to tax the skill 

 and patience of the botanist. 



The berries are produced in enormous quan- 

 tities. A mass of blueberries in fruiting time 

 may seem to spread a blue carpet throughout 

 acres of cleared woodlands and pastures. And 



