TAMING THE WILD BLUEBERRY.i 

 By Frederick V. Coville, Washington, D. C. 



Delivered before the Society, with stereopticon illustrations, March 11, 



1916. 



[The substance of this lecture is contained in Bulletin No. 334, United 

 States Department of Agriculture, entitled Directions for Blueberry Cul- 

 ture, 1916. By Frederick V. Coville, Botanist. It is here reprinted by 

 permission with change of paging and omission of plates.] 



Special Requirements. 



Success in blueberry culture rests especially on the recognition of 

 two peculiarities in the nutrition of these plants: (1) Their require- 

 ment of an acid soil; (2) their possession of a root fungus that 

 appears to have the beneficial function of supplying them with 

 nitrogen.^ 



If blueberries are planted in a soil with an alkaline or neutral 

 reaction, such as the ordinary rich garden or fertile field, it is use- 

 less to expect their successful growth. In such a situation they 

 become feeble and finally die. Blueberries require an acid soil, 

 and they thrive best in that particular type of acid soil which con- 

 sists of a mixture of sand and peat. 



Good aeration of the soil is another essential. It is commonly 

 but erroneously supposed that the swamp blueberry {Vaccinium 

 corymhosum), the species chiefly desirable for cultivation, grows 

 best in a permanently wet soil. It is to be observed, however, that 

 the wild plants of the swamps occupy situations which, though 



1 Revised by the author from the original paper of 1913, entitled "Directions for Blue- 

 berry Culture," which was published, without illustrations, as pages 3 to 11 of Circular 

 122, Bureau of Plant Industry, and was also separately printed. 



2 For a full discussion of the principles of blueberry culture, including the soil require- 

 ments and peculisu-ities of nutrition of the blueberry plant and the details of the growing 

 of seedlings, consult "Experiments in Blueberry Culture," Bulletin 193, Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, 1910, or the corrected reprint of 1911. Although the edition of this bulletin 

 was long since exhausted at the Department of Agriculture, copies may be obtained from 

 the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, for 25 cents each. 



103 



