282 HORTICULTURAL MANUAL. 



a small way. But in the few cases at the "West where it 

 has been grown by the acre for market, the berries taken 

 by the birds have not been missed, as the fruit-eating birds 

 at that season seem local in their habits. Where grown in 

 a small way for home use, the low bushes are easy to cover 

 during the brief ripening season. In the near future, 

 when more general attention is given to this fruit, varieties 

 will be secured by seedling production, selection, and 

 crossing, that will be much larger in size, of better 

 quality, and that will ripen more evenly. Bird-netting 

 will also, in the near future, be obtainable, as in Europe, 

 at prices within the profitable reach of growers of June- 

 berries, cherries, and the -Japan persimmons, which also 

 are ruined often by the picking of birds. 



In a few cases it has been grown by the acre in Iowa 

 and sold in the groceries as high -bush huckleberry. As 

 the huckleberry does not grow on the limestone soils of 

 the prairie States, such deception is easily practised, and 

 indeed some varieties now grown are not a bad substitute, 

 as they are larger in size, quite as juicy, and as pleasant 

 in flavor as the commercial huckleberries. 



273. Propagation and Pruning. The dwarf varieties 

 are usually propagated from the sprouts that start from 

 the lower part of the crown like those of the flowering 

 almond. These when taken off have not much show of 

 roots, but the bark is softened and will emit stronger roots 

 in time to support growth if planted early in spring. It 

 will also grow from cuttings of the young wood made in 

 the fall and placed in solar hot -bed, as practised with the 

 cuttings of the grape (60). The cuttings can also be 

 started by grafting on short pieces of apple-root and set 

 down in nursery to the top bud. The cuttings soon root 

 above the apple-wood, and I have not known the plan to 

 change or modify the growth of the bush. Spring layers 



