Huckleberries or Blueberries 365 



Investigations carried on by the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, under the direction of Frederick V. 

 Coville, 1 have thrown a flood of light upon the whole 

 problem of bringing these plants under domestication. 

 His experiments have been chiefly with species of the 

 genus Vaccinium, which are most desirable as fruit-bearing 

 plants. The following discussion of methods of propaga- 

 tion and culture is based on Coville's published results. 

 The illustrations used were also furnished by him. 



It has long been known that there is associated with the 

 roots of these plants, a peculiar fungous growth, which has 

 much to do with the nutrition of the plants. Both the 

 blueberry and the fungus appear to profit by the partner- 

 ship. It is believed that the fungus assists the plant in 

 obtaining nitrogen. If the blueberry is to thrive, the con- 

 ditions must be right for the fungus to thrive also. Coville 

 has proved, what others had suspected, that to thrive 

 the blueberry must have an acid soil. His observations 

 appear to have been chiefly with Vaccinium corymbosum, 

 but doubtless apply equally well to other -members of the 

 huckleberry family. The particular kind of acid soil 

 formed by a mixture of sand and peat is the one in which 

 the plants thrive best. In soils with an alkaline or neu- 

 tral reaction, such as those of a well-manured garden, 

 or of limestone regions, good results cannot be expected. 

 Free access of air to the soil is also essential. Although the 

 swamp blueberry, as its name indicates, is often found 

 growing in swamps, it will not thrive where its roots are 



1 See "Experiments in Blueberry Culture," Bulletin 193, Bureau 

 of Plant Industry, and "Directions for Blueberry Culture/' Bulletin 

 334, U. S. Dept. of Agr. 



