494 BUSH-FRUITS 



beds should be mulched with pine needles, oak leaves, or other 

 similar material, to keep the plants from heaving. After the 

 second year they are transplanted to the nursery, and need only 

 ordinary care. When finally removed they will be found to trans- 

 plant with the greatest of ease and no perceptible loss. 



"The huckleberries and blueberries can also be propagated 

 from cuttings of the underground stems or stolons which are 

 found on many varieties. These can be taken up in the autumn, 

 cut in lengths of two or three inches, planted in boxes of sandy 

 peat or loam, and kept in a cool pit or house, away from severe 

 frost, until about the 1st of February. They then require a gentle 

 heat and moisture until they start. When they have made a good 

 growth, they should be hardened off and treated as other hard- 

 wood plants, but, like other members of the Heath family, they 

 cannot endure saturation while growing under artificial treatment. 



"These plants can also be grown by layers, by bending down 

 the branches and tonguing, as with other hard -wood plants. A 

 good moist mulch of moss around the young layers will accelerate 

 the rooting. I have not as yet propagated them from cuttings or 

 grafting, but I see no reason why this should not be done with 

 cuttings of the young wood, just as other ericaceous plants are 

 propagated." 



While some satisfactory method of propagation is absolutely 

 essential, if this fruit is ever to become widely grown or greatly 

 improved, it is not necessary that the farmer or householder should 

 follow these methods in order to grow huckleberries in his own 

 garden. In many parts of the country the wild bushes are easily 

 accessible, and may be transferred to the garden. Bushes growing 

 in dry soil or open pastures should be selected in preference to 

 those found in swamps. Mr. Dawson prefers small bushes, not 

 over a foot high, and takes them up early in September. They 

 are immediately planted thickly and firmly in a well prepared bed, 

 in which a liberal proportion of sand and peat is mingled with 

 loam, and protected with a heavy mulch. They remain in this 

 bed during the following summer, being well watered when the 

 weather is dry, and the ground kept well cultivated. Under this 

 treatment they have an abundance of fine roots by the second 

 spring, and can be transplanted where they are to remain with 

 perfect ease and safety. Mr. Dawson states that he has handled 

 thousands of them in this way with perfect success. His reason 

 for transplanting early in September is that new roots are then. 



