660 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



Blueberry or Huckleberry 



It seems not quite settled where the 

 name huckleberry originated as applied 

 to a species of bush fruits of the genus 

 Gaylussacia. They grow principally in 

 the Northern hemisphere in North Amer- 

 ica and North Britain. The plant varies 

 greatly in size from about six inches in 

 height to ten feet. The berries are small, 

 but highly prized for their flavor; not 

 highly profitable commercially because of 

 the amount of labor necessary in picking 

 and marketing. Yet no one who has 

 picked the native wild huckleberry would 

 desire to see them displaced from the 

 markets of the world. Therefore consid- 

 erable effort has been made to improve 

 the varieties so that they can be mar- 

 keted profitably in competition with other 

 fruits. 



Geax^tlle Lowther 



IniproTement of Blueberries 



C. B. Smith 



An investigation of this subject has 

 been undertaken by the Maine station. 

 In a report of that station it is stated 

 that blueberries are found growing in 

 great quantities in many of the Eastern 

 and Northern states on soils which are. 

 as a rule, of little or no value for general 

 agricultural purposes, but that while the 

 berries have been highly prized as an 

 article of food from the earliest colonial 

 period, "practically no attention has been 

 given to the cultivation and systematic 

 improvement of the fruit." Plants have 

 from time to time been introduced into 

 gardens with good results, and the man- 

 agement of blueberry barrens has occa- 

 sionally been undertaken. An account of 

 an experiment of the latter kind is re- 

 ported by the Maine station. The blue- 

 herry lands described consist of 40,000 

 acres belonging to one owner. 



The land is divided into several parts, 

 each of which is leased to some respons- 

 ible party who assumes the whole care of 

 burning over the land, keeping off tres- 

 passers, harvesting, and marketing the 

 fruit. * * * Every year a certain sec- 

 tion of each "lease" is burned over. This 

 turning must be done very early in the 



spring before the ground becomes dry; 

 otherwise the fire goes too deep and 

 humus is burned from the ground and 

 most of the bushes are killed. Many hun- 

 dred acres of what would be the best 

 part of the barrens have thus been ruined. 

 The method most commonly used in burn- 

 ing a given area is for the operator to 

 pass around the section to be burned, 

 and drag after him an ordinary torch or 

 a mill lamp. He then retraces his steps 

 over the burned area, setting after-fires 

 in the portions which have escaped, and 

 back-firing if there is danger of spread- 

 ing unduly over areas which it is desired 

 to leave unbumed. A device which was 

 found in use by one party consists of a 

 piece of half-inch gas pipe bent at the 

 end at an angle of about 60 degrees. The 

 end opposite the bent portion is closed 

 with a cap or plug, and in the other end. 

 after filling the pipe with kerosene, is 

 placed a plug of cotton waste or tow. This 

 device is regarded as superior to the 

 lamp or torch as it is more easily 

 handled. 



Systematically treated blueberry fields 

 are burned over about once every three 

 years. This burning renews the bushes 

 and tends to check the growth of under- 

 brush. 



The early ripening fruits on these lands 

 are picked by hand and sent to the city 

 markets, usually in quart boxes. Later 

 in the season the fruit is sent to the can- 

 neries. On the older barrens, especially 

 on areas which are to be burned over 

 the following spring, the fruit is gath- 

 ered with a "blueberry rake." 



This is an implement somewhat similar 

 to the cranberry rake in use on Cape Cod, 

 and may be likened to a dust pan the bot- 

 tom of which is composed of stiff parallel 

 wire rods. The fruit may be gathered 

 much more quickly and more cheaply by 

 means of the rake. The bushes are, how- 

 ever, seriously injured by the treatment. 

 In no case should the rake be employed 

 in gathering the high-bush blueberries. 



At the New York state station consid- 

 erable difficulty was met with in growing 

 seedling plants of the high-bush huckle- 

 berry (Taccinium corymhosum ) because 



