7 - 



POLLINATION OF CULTIVATED HIGHBUSH BLUEBERRIES 



William E. Tomlinson, Jr. 

 Cranberry Experiment Station, East Wareham 



Since the beginnings of highbush blueberry cultivation, there 

 has been considerable discussion and research concerning pollina- 

 tion of this crop. As early as 1910, Coville demonstrated that 

 bees were essential for commercial set of blueberry fruit. 



Phipps in Maine and Beckwith in New Jersey showed in cage 

 tests that wind is not a factor in blueberry pollination. In tests 

 in Michigan, Merrill proved that blueberries are self-fruitful, 

 that is, they can pollinate themselves and that cross-pollination 

 is not necessary for fruit set. 



The relative advantages of self-pollination versus cross-pol- 

 lination of blueberries were controversial for many years. The 

 evidence accumulated by several investigators indicated that in 

 general there was a slightly greater set from cross-pollination 

 than from self-pollination. The most important conclusions were 

 that cross-pollination consistently resulted in increased berry 

 size and earlier ripening than did self-pollination. 



It has been shown by several investigators that one of the 

 factors governing size of the berries is the seed count. Since 

 the seed count is directly related to the amount of pollination, 

 the importance of adequate numbers of bees is apparent. 



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