SOME USEFUL PLANTS 331 
Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Wisconsin, and there is a 
large yield from uncultivated swamps. 
Blueberries and huckleberries belong to two different 
genera, but have considerable superficial resemblance. 
The former berry, borne on bushes of several species, from 
six inches to ten feet in height, is the more valuable and 
is gathered for the market over wide areas of the northern 
United States and Canada. The “heaths” or « blueberry 
barrens” on which the bushes grow in great abundance 
are often carefully reserved and the berries systematically 
picked for shipment. 
The Olive family furnishes a very important fruit, the 
olive, which is considerably utilized by pickling in salt 
water and serving as a relish. Olive-oil, expressed from 
the fruit, is a most valuable product and is not only used 
as a food throughout most civilized countries, particularly 
in the Mediterranean region, but is also utilized for many 
mechanical purposes and for soap-making. 
The Nightshade family, which contains many poisonous 
plants, yields several edible fruits. These are true berries, 
though they are not commonly so called. The principal 
ones are the ground-cherry or strawberry-tomato (Physalis), 
of which wild and cultivated species are used in making 
preserves, the red pepper (Capsicum),! the egg-plant, and 
the tomato. The tomato was introduced into cultivation 
from tropical America as a curious ornamental plant for 
the garden. Its fruit was originally small, two-celled, and 
watery, but by cultivation has become large, fleshy, and 
several-celled. It is extensively grown for the market, 
and large canning establishments in several states handle 
the product of special tomato farms. 
1 This is not a pulpy fruit, but is for convenience mentioned here. 
