July 25, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



2 95 



pleasant-flavored fruit generally brings very good prices. Nor- 

 mally it is of a blue-black color, covered with a rich blue 

 bloom, which rubs off in handling, although there are some 

 varieties which have very little of the bloom. 



Vaccinium Canadense, of the botanists, when seen in the 

 garden, does not seem to differ much from V. Pennsylvanicum, 

 but differences will be found in its generally broader, less- 

 pointed and more pubescent leaves, in the more pubescent 

 twigs, and in the fact that the leaf-margins seem entire, while 

 minute bristle-pointed teeth are to be detected on the margins 

 of V. Pennsylvanicum. It is inclined to become a larger plant 

 than V. Pennsylvanicum. It is much like the latter in quality 

 of fruit, though the berries probably average larger. Planted 



surface and distinctly pale or glaucous beneath. The fruit of 

 this species only begins to ripen when the best of the crop of 

 V. Pennsylvanicum is past, and thus the local Blueberry sea- 

 son is much prolonged. This species seems to be more pro- 

 lific than V. Pennsylvanicum,' although sometimes much of 

 the fruit falls prematurely, perhaps from fungal disease. The 

 berries themselves are scarcely different from the other spe- 

 cies, except that the crown of calyx-lobes is smaller and the 

 berries are firmer and therefore keep longer and bear trans- 

 portation better. While of good flavor, the berries are not 

 quite so juicy and sweet. 



The most conspicuous and, perhaps, altogether the finest of 

 our native species is the High Blueberry, Vaccinium corym- 



mmm 







Fig. 49. — The Cockspur Thorn (Crataegus Crus-galli) in a Massachusetts Garden. — See page 292 



side by side the fruits ripen nearly together here. In the event 

 of domestication, V. Canadense may be found more profitable 

 to cultivate than V. Pennsylvanicum, as it seems quite as pro- 

 lific. It is not found wild in this part of New England, occur- 

 ring chiefly in higher altitudes or farther north. 



Growing with Vaccinium Pennsylvanicum we have a distinct 

 species in the so-called Low Blueberry, V. vacillans, the sterns 

 of which will grow to two or three times the height of the 

 stems of V. Pennsylvanicum. Both foliage and stems are 

 usually quite glabrous, the thick, oval or obovate leaves some- 

 times with very minute teeth around the margin, sometimes 

 entire. The plants may be readily distinguished from V. Penn- 

 sylvanicum by the larger size, by the leaves being twice or 

 three times the size and duller or lighter green on the upper 



bosum, which commonly forms bushes six or eight feet or more 

 in height and with stems sometimes two or three inches in diam- 

 eter. The fruit is intermediate in ripening between V. Penn- 

 sylvanicum and V. vacillans; it is of fine flavor when fully 

 ripe and averages larger than other kinds. It is extremely 

 variable in fruit, however, and exceptionally prolific, and large- 

 fruited individuals are often found, and altogether it is a plant 

 likely to reward any well-directed efforts toward its improve- 

 ment from a horticultural point of view. Plants with black 

 fruit, or without the blue bloom, are common in nature, and 

 from this and other characters botanical varieties of the spe- 

 cies have been described, although not easily identified by the 

 average botanist. 



Years ago, in some of the western states, a High Blueberry 



