Huckleberries or Blueberries 375 



By selecting the best wild plants as a basis of work, 

 then crossing and hybridizing these, some fine sorts have 

 been developed in Coville's work. Individual fruits, 

 under unusual conditions, have even reached a diameter 

 of nearly three-fourths of an inch. Hybrids between 

 V actinium corymbosum and V actinium pennsylvanicum, the 

 low blueberry, are giving some promising results. A 

 hybrid plant of this parentage, four years old, is shown 

 at Plate XVI. 



The future of this particular type of huckleberry or 

 blueberry now looks bright. We may hope to bring it to 

 our gardens and enjoy its fruits. The owner of land which 

 is too wet and sour for ordinary farm crops may find profit- 

 able use for such land in the growing of this crop in a com- 

 mercial way. 



Species involved 



Improvement work has been confined to the genus 

 Vaccinium, this being the one most generally prized 

 and the most promising for future development. Two 

 species of Gaylussacia bear fruit of value, that of the 

 common black huckleberry, G. baccata, better known as 

 G. resinosa, being extensively gathered for market. 



The most important difference between these two genera 

 is that in Gaylussacia the fruit is ten-celled, each cell con- 

 taining a single seed, or properly a little stone, while in 

 Vaccinium there are several seeds in each cell, these being 

 small, and the fruit forming a pulpy berry. The seeds 

 of the former, while less numerous, are far more trouble- 

 some than those of the latter. The leaves and branchlets 

 of Gaylussacia are clammy with resinous dots when young. 



Many species belonging to these two genera are known, 



