518 



BLUEBERRY 



BOCCONIA 



ing of mature age, believed to be the only commercial 

 plantation in existence, which sets forward our knowl- 

 edge of yields by at least a decade. The plantation is a 

 little less than two and a half acres in extent. It was 

 started in 1889 in a natural blueberry bog, which was 

 first drained and then set with unselected wild blue- 

 berry bushes. Exact records of yield and receipts are 

 available only for the years 1910 to 1912. They are 

 as follows: 



The annual expenses for weeding, cultivation, and 

 irrigation were about $50. The cost of picking was 5 

 cents a quart. The general cost of maintenance of the 

 equipment was about $5 per year, the crates and boxes 

 being used repeatedly. 



Estimating an annual charge of $30 for interest, $5 

 for taxes, and $10 for depreciation, the profits for these 

 three years are computed as follows: 



Year 

 1910. 

 1911 . 

 1912. 



Profits per acre 



$10 



139 



... 147 



It must be borne in mind that these figures are based 

 on the yields from wild bushes transplanted without 

 selection as to individual productiveness or the size 

 of the berries. With bushes propagated from selected 

 stocks, the yield should be greater and the berries much 

 larger, this greater size probably effecting a reduction 

 in the cost of picking and certainly an increase in the 

 selling price. FREDERICK V. COVILLE. 



BLUE FLAG: Iris. 

 BLUETS: Houstonia. 



BLUMENBACHIA (after Dr. J. F. Blumenbach, pro- 

 fessor at Gottingen, 1752-1840). Loasacex. S. Amer- 

 ican plants allied to Loasa and Mentzelia (prairie 

 lilies), not cult, in Amer. because of their covering 

 of stinging hairs. The fls. are odd and pretty, axillary, 

 solitary and bracteate: Ivs. opposite, lobed. The 

 garden forms are mostly treated as tender annuals. 

 Prop, by seeds, to be sown in pots in spring. Trans- 

 plant only when danger from frost is over. 



B. chuquitensis. Hook. f. Lvs. 8-10 in. long: fls. 1 Yf-2 in. long, 

 brick-red, tipped yellow without, and yellow within; petals 5-10, 

 boat-shaped. Peru, Ecuador. F.S. 22:2358. B.M. 6143. B. 

 coronata, Haage & Schmidt, l 1 ^ ft.: Ivs. narrow, bi-pinnatifid: 

 fls. half hidden by the Ivs., 2 in. dimii., pure white. R.H. 1874, 

 p. 58. F.M. 1874. 139. B. grandiflbra, Don (B. contorta, 

 Hook. f. B.M. 6134). Lvs. 4-6 in. long: fls. 1 ^-2 in. long, wholly 

 red; scales Kin. long, cup-shaped, green; stamens in 5 bundles, with 

 long filaments. Peru. B. inslgnis, Schrad. St. climbing, 4-sided: 

 petals white, unguiculate. B.M. 2865. B. laterltia, Bnt. (Cajo- 

 phora lateritia, Benth.) Lvs. pinnate, with roundish lobed Ifts: fl.- 

 stalks, twin, single-fld.: fls. orange-red. S. Amer. B.M. 3632. B.R. 



N. TAYLOR.t 



BOCCONIA (after Dr. Paolo Bocconi, Sicilian botan- 

 ist and author). Papaverdcese. PLUME POPPY. TREE 

 CELANDINE. Tall garden herbs, suitable to the hardy 

 border. 



Herbs, but sometimes almost shrubby, glaucous: 

 Ivs. lobed: fls. small, many, in terminal panicles; sepals 

 2, colored; petals wanting; stamens many: fr. a stalked 

 caps., few-seeded. Four or 5 species in American trop- 

 ics, and China and Japan. The well-known China-Jap- 

 anese species, B. cordata, is by some recent authors 

 referred to Macleya, B. frutescens and B. integrifolia 



(latter apparently not cult.) representing Bocconia as 

 limited. 



The large, handsome leaves remind one, by their tex- 

 ture and lobing, of bloodroot and Stylophorum, which 

 belong to allied genera. The flowers are very unlike 

 our common poppies, being small and without petals, 

 but they are borne in great feathery or plumy masses, 

 in terminal panicles raised high above the heavy foliage, 

 making the plant unique in its picturesque general 

 appearance. Hence, it is much used for isolated lawn 

 specimens, or for very bold and striking effects, being 

 especially adapted to be viewed at long distances. It 

 is also placed in shrubberies, wild gardens, and at the 

 back of wide borders. It spreads rapidly by suckers, 

 any of which, if detached, will make a strong plant in 

 a single season. The plume poppy seems to be much 

 hardier in America than in the Old World. It was 

 popular early in the century, but was neglected, 



587. Bocconia cordata. 



probably because it spread so rapidly. Lately it has 

 become popular again. It deserves to be permanently 

 naturalized in the American landscape. To produce 

 the largest specimens, it is well to plant in very rich 

 soil, give the old clumps liquid manure in spring, 

 and cut off the suckers. Propagation chiefly by 

 suckers. See Pflanzenreich, hft. 40, p. 217 for the latest 

 monograph. 



cordata, Willd. (B.japdnica, Hort.). Fig. 587. Hardy 

 herbaceous perennial: height 5-8 ft.: Ivs. large, glau- 

 cous, heart-shaped, much lobed, deeply veined: fls. 

 pinkish; stamens about 30. China, Japan. B.M. 1905. 

 Gn. 54, p. 279. Gng. 5:342. 



microcarpa, Maxim. Perennial, 9 ft.: fls. golden 

 brown or bronzy, in immense panicles, summer: Ivs. 

 much as in B. cordata. N. China. R.H. 1898, p. 362, f. 

 125. 



frutescens, Linn. Perennial, somewhat shrubby, 

 4-9 ft.: Ivs. pinnatifid, pale green, often glaurcsivnt 

 beneath, ovate-oblong, cuneate at the base, 6-12 in. 

 long: fls. greenish, the panicle often a foot long. Oct. 

 Mex. and Peru. L.B.C.:83. Intro, by Francescai 

 in 1895. 



B. \ntegr\f6l\a, Humb. & Bonpl. 9 ft.: fls. greenish: Ki. nearly 

 entire. Peru. Is sometimes cult. B. macrucdrpa, B. GirAltla and 

 B. Thunbergii are trade names, the first two referable to B. cordata, 

 the last probably to B. microcarpa. -M- TAYLOR t 



