HORTICULTURAL STATUS OF THE GENUS VACCINIUM. 1 19 



and children devote themselves to collecting and drying blue- 

 berries for winter." 



Of all the American species used for food, the most important 

 are, perhaps, corymbosum, Pennsylvanicum, Canadense, and 

 vacillans. The first of these, the High-bush Blueberry, or 

 Swamp Blueberry, or "Huckleberry" of the middle west, is of 

 firm texture, good size and excellent flavor. The shrub is easily 

 transplanted, grows rapidly on any good soil and, more than 

 any other species, shows a marked tendency to vary in the size, 

 shape and quality of its fruit. It is the natural starting point 

 in attempts to add the blueberry to the list of cultivated fruits. 

 During the past few years it has received considerable attention 

 as a garden fruit, especially in New England. 1 



The other species named grow mostly on uplands — Pennsyl- 

 vanicum especially, on dry sandy "barrens" — and form the bulk 

 of the blueberry crop as seen in the cities or at the canning 

 factories. 



USE FOR ORNAMENTAL PLANTING. 



Among the plants which lend tone to the landscape in October 

 and November by reason of their bright foliage, many of the 

 species of Vaccinium may be included, the brilliant red, crimson 

 and orange colors often persisting much longer than the bright 

 hued leaves of a majority of other plants. 



Of the ornamental species none are more strikingly beautiful 

 late in the autumn than the cummon high bush blueberry — 

 V. corymbosum. When well ;ro\vn it is a stout, thick, spread- 

 ing bush eight to ten feet high. The plant is beautiful when in 

 flower ; the fruit is attractive and of the best quality ; and the 

 bright scarlet and crimson effei ts in late autumn, rivalling the 

 sumach in brilliancy, are unsurpassed. As an ornamental plant 

 the species deserves a place in every garden. 



Pennsylvanicum also brightens waste place for a short time, 

 but drops its foliage too eariv 10 be worthy of planting as an 

 under shrub. The same is true of Canadense, which is in many 

 respects similar. Stamincum (the Deerberry), 'hough earlv 

 deciduous, is attractive when in bloom, and ''.roughout the 

 summer, by reason of its graceful habit. The deerbei : v is found 



1 The Blueberry in Maine, Rep. Me. L g. Exp. Sta., 189S, 170. 



