August, i92i 



GLEAjSIlNaS IN BEE CULTURE 



515 



to keep up this sourness more leaves must 

 be provided, and, as a matter of course, 

 plenty of moisture. I think the statement 

 was also made that certain parties from the 

 Department at Washington were helping 

 her in her work, and collecting specimens 

 of the largest and finest berries to be found 

 near swamps as well as on the dry land. 



Well, something like a year ago I noticed 

 in the Florida papers mention made at dif- 

 ferent times of cultivated blueberries in 

 Florida. A nursery located at Oldsmar, 

 near Tampa, advertised plants producing 

 berries over half an inch in diameter, and 

 which grew on bushes or trees from five to 

 ten feet high. They also made the state- 

 ment that one plant had produced a bushel 

 of berries, and another one 21 quarts of 

 berries at one picking. I submitted the 

 statement to the Department of Agriculture, 

 and they gave it as their opinion that the 

 merits of the plant had been greatly exag- 

 gerated. This same nursery advertised half 

 a dozen or more varieties. During the past 

 winter I paid the nursery two visits. I saw 

 plants in bloom so tall that I had to bend 

 the tree down so I could get the perfume 

 of the blossoms, and I carried home seven 

 plants of different varieties, for which I 

 paid $4.50. At the present writing, July 

 14, I am informed that only two plants of 

 one variety are living. This is probably 

 owing largely to neglect since I left May 

 first, and also to a severe drouth during 

 May and a part of June. 



In June I had some correspondence with 

 Miss Elizabeth White of New Jersey, the 

 lady who first demonstrated that blueber- 

 ries can be grown successfully under culti- 

 vation; and finally it was my pleasure to 

 visit her plantation on July 7. As her lo- 

 cation, Whitesbog, New Jersey, is not very 

 far from where W. A. Selser of Philadel- 

 phia lives, he accompanied me. As his hear- 

 ing is better than mine I submit below some 

 notes that he took down. 



We reached Mount Holly at 9:05 a. m., -where 

 Harold Hornor met us in his automobile, and took 

 us to his house, about a mile and a half from the 

 station. After resting a few moments, Mr. Hornor 

 drove us all around his sixtj-acre fruit farm. He 

 is the only fruit-grower in that part of New Jersey 

 who has any fruit whatever. He has one of the 

 best erop.s of apples and in all some 50 odd varie- 

 ties. 



Mr. Hornor has about 90 colonies of bees on 

 the lawn at his home and expects about 6,000 

 pounds of honey this year. Some of the hive.s are 

 tiered ui) foui- and live stories high. He had all new 

 (lueens introduced this spring, which is his cus- 

 tom, and he claims that he is the exception in get- 

 ting an apple crop he.c.wuse of the quick fertiliza- 

 tion of the apple blossoms by the bees. 



There is one orchardman in his State, who is 

 planning to pay him $500 next year to have him 

 ])lace 100 colonies of bees in his orchard. This will 

 be simply a rental, and Mr. Hornor will have the 

 bees returned to his own place after the three weeks' 

 blossom time is over. This shows the value of bees 

 to agriculture. 



Mr. Root had a nap for about an hour, after 

 which Mr. Hornor drove us for a trip about 16 

 miles to .lo.seph ,1. White, Inc.. blueberry and cran- 

 berry plantation. Miss White is treasurer of the com- 

 pany. She, however, was unexpectedly caUed away, 

 gieatly to tiei regret, to attend a board meeting of 



the New Jersey State Institution for Feeble Minded, 

 of which she is secretary. She delegated S. B. Hut- 

 ton, who is her right-hand man (his address is 

 Brown's Mills, N. J.), to explain everything in de- 

 tail to Mr. Root and take him over the whole plan- 

 tation. 



They have in all about 25 acres in blueberries, 

 and a number of Italian pickers already in one of 

 the fields. There are 15 acres in which the Federal 

 Government is co-operating with Miss White along 

 experimental lines to get the best results. 



A number of the bushes were enclosed with a 

 contrivance consisting of an iron frame with white 

 mosquito netting covering it. The bottom circular 

 frame to which the mosquito netting was fastened, 

 could be raised and the bushes easily examined. We 

 were simply amazed at the largeness of the berries, 

 and by actual measurement some of the berries 

 wore as big around as an ordinary copper cent. The 

 clusters were nearly as large as a small fist and 

 looked like immense clusters of grapes. Mr. Root's 

 amazement knew no bounds. 



The soil two feet below the surface was wet and 

 water could be obtained by digging 24 inches, 

 but the surface was well cultivated and very fine, 

 dry sand. 



They were sending their berries mostly to hotels 

 in New York, also the seashore, and were getting 

 50 cents per quart wholasale for them, but could 

 sell more than they could produce. 



Mr. Hutton went into detail with Mr. Root in 

 reference to the proposition. Some have been grown 

 from seed, others from cuttings and plants. The 

 bushes do grow as high as six feet or more, but 

 Mr. Hutton claims these must be put back and 

 never allowed to grow so high as the fruit is not 

 so good. 



July 7, 19'21. W. A. Selser. 



Sure enough, there were the blueberries 

 I had heard so much about. I tliink there 

 were about ten acres in bearing. The whole 

 plantation was kept in beautiful trim. Not 

 a weed of any sort was visible. You will 

 see by measuring that a copper penny is 

 just % of an inch across, so the largest of 

 these berries were equal to a fair-sized 

 cherry. The birds were somewhat trouble- 

 some; and in order to give me a view of 

 some of the best where no fruit had been 

 gathered, a circular tent of mosquito net- 

 ting was i^ut over them. A hoop at the bot- 

 tom could be raised to permit of picking, 

 but no bird could enter it. The rows were 

 eight feet apart, and the berry bushes were 

 every four feet in a row. 



The Department of Agriculture has suc- 

 ceeded in getting several improved varieties. 

 Some of them came from seeds planted, and 

 others by dividing the roots of desirable 

 plants. It takes about three years to get 

 fruit from a seedling. As it is with apples 

 and many other fruits, the most of the seed- 

 lings are of no account. And then there is 

 another serious trouble. You can not get 

 blueberry cuttings to start in sand (or in a 

 bottle) in the way the florist multiplies va- 

 rieties. The expert mentioned said I could 

 multiply my plants by taking a big thrifty 

 plant and dividing it up or cutting it up, 

 of course leaving a little root on each stalk. 

 When I first found out about Miss White's 

 work I wanted some plants; but I was told 

 the supply was exhausted for the season. I 

 was so urgent, however, that they shipped 

 me two of their best varieties, carefully 

 packed, at a cost of .$5.00 each. Both are 

 now growing finely. On July 12 one of 

 these plants sent out a vigorous shoot that 



