HORTICULTURAL STATUS OF THE GENUS VACCINIUM. II7 



of purple blew colour, putting thereto some allome and Galles, 

 whereby they can make it lighter or sadder as they please. And 

 some poor folkes, as Tragus sheweth, doe take a potluil of the 

 juyce strained whereunto an ounce of Allome, foure spoonfulls 

 of good Wine vinegar, and a quarter of an ounce of the waste 

 of the copper forgings, being put together, and boyled all 

 together, they put their cloth, wooll, thred, or yarne therein, 

 letting it lye for a good while, which being taken out and hung 

 up to dry and afterwards washed with cold water will leave the 

 like Turkie blew colour, and if they would have it sadder they 

 put thereto in the boyling an ounce of broken Galles." 



As already noted, the most widely distributed member of the 

 group is V. Myrtillus, and this species is very generally used as 

 an article of diet or in making drinks. In the Orkneys the fruit 

 is large and is used for wine. 1 The Scotch Highlanders eat the 

 berries in milk and "make them into tarts and jellies which la^t 

 they mix with their whiskey to give it a relish to strangers." 2 

 In England they are found in the markets and "are eaten m 

 tarts or with cream or made into jelly," 3 while in Poland, 

 "mixed with wood strawberries and eaten with new milk the\ 

 are considered a great delicacy." 4 In France they are esteemed 

 as a fruit and are used for coloring wine. 5 



The berries are also of considerable importance for food in 

 Germany, Siberia, and with the Indians of the Rocky Mountains. 



V. uliginosum, after Myrtillus the most widely distributed 

 species, has large, juicy, black fruits, which are eatable but not 

 agreeable in flavor as ordinarily found, and are commonly 

 believed to be unwholesome. Gmelin reports their extensive 

 use in Siberia, though there they are believed to promote intoxi- 

 cation. It is probable, as is known to be the case with V. Vitis- 

 Idcea, that in the far North the quality is better than further 

 south. The western Eskimos, according to Seeman, collect the 

 berries and freeze for winter use. 6 Of the species, Loudon 

 says : 7 "In France they are used to color wines red ; and in 



1 Dickson, Pr. Essays Hort. Soc, ser. 2, 7:132, cited by Sturtevant, 1. c. 



2 Lightfoot, Fl. Scot. 1:201, cited by Sturtevant, 1. c. 



3 Loudon, Arb. et Fruit. 2:1157. 



4 Ibid, 115S. 



* Aspelin, Fl. Oecon. 520 (1784) cited by Sturtevant, 1. c. 



6 Sturtevant 1. c. 



7 Loudon, Arb. et Fruit. 2:1158. 



