that harvesting with a rake is very 

 difficult. Also, diseases, insects, and 

 weed plants will accumulate in the 

 area. Often unfertilized blueberry 

 fields that have not been burned for 

 two years do not have enough plant 

 growth in them to carry a lire. It 

 then becomes necessary to use oil 

 or hay to aid in burning. The use of 

 fertilizer to stimulate the plants and 

 keep them in production for another 

 year not only makes the area more 

 productive but also furnishes fuel 

 for a good burn. 



W. W. Smith 



Forced Softwood Cuttings 

 Speed Blueberry Propagation 



Softwood cuttings of five varieties 

 of cultivated blueberry placed in a 

 propagating frame June 30, 1950, 

 rooted well and were potted individ- 

 ually before November 20. Rather 

 than to winter the small plants out 

 of doors protected in a coldframe, 

 as is common practice, part of them 

 were kept in a heated greenhouse and 

 not allowed to go into a dormant 

 condition. A dilute solution of Am- 

 monium Sulfate was used to water 

 the plants once every two weeks. 

 During the short winter days, sup- 

 plemental light from 100-watt Mazda 

 bulbs spaced every four feet over the 

 greenhouse bench was provided so 

 as to approximate fifteen and one 

 half hours of daily illumination. Con- 

 tinuous growth was maintained until 

 May 25, 1951. when the plants were 

 set outside in the field. 



At this time, ten forced plants of 

 the .lersey variety had an average of 

 118 inches of total shoot growth per 

 plant as contrasted with less than an 

 average of four inches of shoot 

 growth for plants wintered in the 

 coldframe. Moreover, about one- 

 half of the Jersey rooted cutting put 

 in the coldframe were lost by winter 

 injury. A similar favorable response 

 was noted for forced cuttings of 



Concord, Rancocas, Stanley, and 

 Pemberton. 



The forced plants have been mak- 

 ing some additional growth in the 

 field since May 25, mostly as strong 

 shoot growth from the base of the 

 plants. 



E. M. Meader 



Toughness of Frozen Blueberries 

 Not Influenced by Storing Them 

 In Carbon Dioxide 



Berries from five high bush var- 

 ieties (Atlantic, Cabot, Concord, 

 Rancocas, and Rubel) were har- 

 vested, packed in tin cans, a.nd sealed 

 at normal air pressure. Half of each 

 lot was sealed in air and half in 

 carbon dioxide. This was done to 

 determine whether the toughness of 

 fruit skins could be reduced by 

 freezing the berries in carbon diox- 

 ide, and the effect of this gas on the 

 quality of the fruit. Tests were re- 

 peated for two years, giving four 

 lots of fruit on which tests were 

 taken. 



Fruit frozen in air was of superior 

 quality both years, according to a 

 panel of ten people who made the 

 organoleptic tests. 



Berries which had tough skins 

 when they went into the cans were 

 tough when they were removed, re- 

 gardless of whether they were frozen 

 in air or carbon dioxide. Fruit fro- 

 zen in tin was superior to that frozen 

 in pliofilm-cardboard containers. 

 Skins of fruit removed from tin cans 

 toughened excessively within five 

 hours after removing from the cans 

 and leaving the berries exposed to 

 air. 



R. Eggert 



Korean Tree Berry, 



A New Hardy Raspberry 



Plants grown from seeds of a 

 Korean wild raspberry fruited for 

 the first time at Durham in 1950. 

 This raspberry, a selection of Rubus 



31 



