BLUEBERRY CULTURE 19 



already discussed, the prospective grower should consider the following: the 

 planting of late varieties will reduce to a minimum competition from berries 

 shipped in from farther south; the planting of varieties such as Rubel and Ware- 

 ham, which are easily and cheaply pruned, will keep down production cost; care 

 in the location of plantings will help to prevent costly failures; location near 

 main-traveled roads will facilitate the sale of berries on roadside stands at re- 

 tail prices. 



The Improvement of Wild Highbush Blueberries 



There are many acres of wild highbush blueberries in this State where the 

 bushes are yielding much below their capacity because of lack of a little care. 

 Such bushes can be made to double or triple their yields without great expense or 

 much labor. 



In 1926 experiments were laid out on wild blueberry land in Hubbardston, 

 Royalston, Westminster, A^hburnham, and Barre, Massachusetts, in an attempt 

 to increase the yield of wild buhses. The general improvement program was 

 as follows: (1) all large trees and second growth which shaded the blueberries 

 were removed, (2) the bushes were pruned, (3) fertilizer was applied. The 

 severity of pruning varied from removing twenty-five percent of the bush to 

 cutting the whole bush to the ground. The fertilizers used were : nitrate of soda, 

 ammonium sulfate, urea, calurea, cyanamid, 4-8-4, and nitrophoska. Also 

 different combinations of fertilizers and pruning were tried. 



The following results of this work were observed: 



1. Removal of competing vegetation increased the growth of the blueberry 

 bushes. 



2. Pruning, if not too severe, increased the growth and yield of the bushes. 

 The removal of more than about twenty-five percent of the bush was too severe. 

 Bushes cut to the ground yielded a few berries the third year thereafter but 

 required four years to produce a commercial crop. 



3. Fertilization increased the growth and yield of the bushes. These in- 

 creases seemed to be due to the nitrogen rather than to any of the other fertilizer 

 elements. 



4. A combination of fertilization and pruning was much better than either 

 alone. 



5. The increase in production on the fertilized plots was due mostly to in- 

 crease in number of berries per bush. Under the conditions of the experiment it 

 was impossible to obtain satisfactory comparative yield records. The bushes 

 varied both in size and number per acre. In spite of the fact that pickers were 

 assigned to different parts of the field, they picked in the fertilized plots when- 

 ever possible, with or without permission. This is very good evidence of the 

 better picking found there. 



6. The berries on the fertilized plots tended to be larger. However, the size 

 of the wild berries varies greatly due to inherited characters and cannot be in- 

 creased beyond the limits set by these characters. 



7. Fertilized bushes had a marked tendency toward annual bearing; un- 

 fertilized bushes toward biennial bearing. 



8. The berries on the fertilized plots were firmer during dry periods than 

 those on unfertilized plots. 



9. A terminal shoot growth of about ten inches was most favorable. Since 



