HORTICULTURAL STATUS OF THE GENUS VACCINIUM. 123 



Some writers have the mistaken notion that blueberries require 

 a poor soil. One writer goes so far as to say: "Blueberries 

 will not grow in cultivated ground, neither can they be grown 

 from cuttings nor can their tips be layered. The only possible 

 way to transplant them is to cut a sod from a matted berry patch 

 and transplant it into sod ground. An old worn out pasture 

 makes the best berry land." 1 



Such a statement hardly needs refuting. There is no doubt 

 that the plants will do better if the roots are not too much dis- 

 turbed in removal, but the poor sod land is not a requisite to 

 successful culture. 



In 1868 a successful amateur attempt at cultivation was made 

 by J. W. Scott, Bridgewater, X. Y., but pressure of other work 

 finally crowded it out. 2 



About 1875, Jackson Dawson, at the Arnold Arboretum, 

 Jamaica Plains, Mass., began the culture of blueberries from 

 seed, and has demonstrated the possibility of successfully culti- 

 vating most of the more common species. 3 



In 1883, and for a few succeeding years, Professor E. S. Goff 

 of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, made some 

 attempts at culture, but the work finally yielded to the pressure 

 of other duties. A similar fate befell like work at the Michigan 

 Agricultural College in 1887. 



In 1886, Frank Ford & Sons, Ravenna, Ohio, offered at least 

 three different species of Vaccinium and one Gaylussacia in their 

 nursery catalog and said : "This much neglected fruit, which 

 is of great value and easy of! cultivation, ought to be found in 

 every fruit garden. Its perfect hardiness and adaptation to all 

 kinds of soil, render it as easy of cultivation as any of the small 

 fruits, and it can be grown anywhere that corn will grow."' 



In 1 89 1 at least three American nurserymen offered blue- 

 berries for sale, and in 1893 as many as nine species were on 

 the market — though not largely grown. 



In 1898, at the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station the 

 work was taken up systematically, and is still in progress. 



1 "S. A. H." Rural New Yorker, 1SS6, 252. 



2 An. Rep. X. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta., 1883, 287. 



3 Country Gentleman, 1885, 660. 





