112 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



gether the best existing collection of selected wild-blueberry stocks, 

 has been propagating them with much success in muslin-shaded 

 coldframes by the method of tubering, and she has much simplified 

 the handling of the cuttings, both before and after rooting. The 

 cuttings are made in the late fall, packed in boxes in loose, moist, 

 clean sphagnum moss, and stored during the winter in a cool cran- 

 berry house at a temperature of about 40° F. As soon as the frost 

 is out of the ground beds of clean sand are laid down in the cold- 

 frames and the cuttings are pressed into the sand until the upper 

 side is level with the surface. The whole is then covered with an 

 inch layer of sifted peat (about 2 parts) and sand (1 part). The 

 frames are completely shaded by muslin on a framework about 7 

 feet above the ground, and ventilation is not begun until most of 

 the shoots are rooted, about midsummer. The shades and sash 

 are removed in early October, and in late autumn, after most of 

 their leaves have fallen, the rooted plants are taken out of the 

 frames, so that these can be made ready for a new lot of cuttings 

 very early the next spring. The stronger of the rooted plants 

 taken out of the frames are set at once in their permanent places in 

 the field plantation. Those less strongly rooted are placed in 

 nursery beds at a spacing of about 10 inches each way, where they 

 remain during the winter and the following growing season. 



Winter Cuttings. 



The rooting of leafy cuttings of the blueberry in summer is very 

 difficult, because in a temperature above 70° F. the cuttings blacken 

 and die. With the aid of a shaded greenhouse, winter cuttings can 

 be started early enough to make roots before warm weather comes 

 on. Similar results can be secured in coldframes so located, shel- 

 tered, and manipulated as to prolong their low temperature as late 

 as possible into the season. 



The essentials of a successful coldframe for blueberry propaga- 

 tion are: (1) That it be located on the cool, shaded, north side 

 of a building or in some other situation where it will not receive 

 reflected heat from neighboring structures. (2) The frame must 

 receive an abundance of light but no direct sunlight, a condition 



