THE BLUEBERRIES 



ally in the mountains. While little cross- 

 breeding and selection has been done with 

 "low bush" blueberries, some attention has 

 been given to them in the wild. In Washing- 

 ton County, Maine, for instance, great areas 

 of blueberry barrens are burned over periodic- 

 ally to the great improvement of the crop, 

 which supports an extensive blueberry canning 

 industry. 



Domestication of the Blueberry 



The first attempts to cultivate the blue- 

 berry were confined to transplanting selected 

 wild plants into locations where they could be 

 handled like other crop plants. Many of these 

 attempts failed, largely because the peculiar 

 soil requirements of the fruit were little under- 

 stood. 



In 1906 the United States Department of 

 Agriculture began a series of experiments look- 

 ing toward the improvement of the berries, by 

 crossing and selecting superior sorts, and 

 toward the development of successful cultural 

 methods. Progress has been remarkable. The 

 average size of the berries has been tremend- 

 ously increased through the development of 

 better varieties, and cultural requirements 

 have been uncovered to such an extent that it 

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