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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



in thickets of laurel, if fire is kept out, 

 making a layer often 2 to 6 inches in 

 thickness, the lower portions matted to- 

 gether by the fine, interlacing surface 

 roots of the oak trees and laurel bushes. 



When the leaves of trees are piled 

 together and left to rot they gradually 

 change, in from two to five years, from 

 their initial state of pronounced acidity 

 and brown color to a black, mellow, non- 

 acid mold in which all traces of leaf 

 structure have disappeared. Through a 

 similar but more rapid process of de- 

 composition pass the fallen leaves of a 

 forest when underlain by a soil which is 

 rich in lime or for any other reason has 

 an alkaline reaction. Such a black mold 

 occurs in the rich woods in which tril- 

 lium, spring beauty, blood-root, and ery- 

 thronium delight to grow. This soil is 

 non-acid and fertile, and ordinary agri- 

 cultural plants grow luxuriantly in it. 



When, however, a forest is underlain 

 by a sandy or granitic soil, in which 

 there is not sufficient lime or equivalent 

 substance to neutralize promptly the 

 acidity of the decaying leaves, the nor- 

 mal progress of decomposition lags. 

 Apparently the micro-organisms which 

 cause the rotting of the leaves are not 

 able to do their work so efficiently while 

 the leaves remain acid, and when the 

 next year's leaf-fall occurs they are del- 

 uged with new leachings of acidity. A 

 permanently acid condition of the leaf 

 litter is thus established, such as prevails 

 in various types of forest. Such acid 

 lands have a flora of their own — such 

 plants as trailing arbutus, laurel, the 

 azaleas, wintergreen, blueberries, huckle- 

 berries, the purple lady's slipper, and 

 many others. 



Thus it is that the swamp blueberry 

 occurs not only on sphagnum-cushioned 

 hummocks of peat in bogs, but on sandy 

 uplands in upland leaf peat. When 

 found in such places the plant commonly 

 bears another name — the highbush blue- 

 berry. The essential feature of similarity 

 in the two situations is their acidity and 

 wherever the plant goes it follows an 

 acid soil. 



The geographic distribution of blue- 



berries, huckleberries, and their relatives 

 indicates their adherence to naturally 

 acid soils. They occur in abundance 

 from Maine to Florida in the sandy 

 coastal plain, the prevailingly acid char- 

 acter of which is now well known 

 through the conclusive experiments of 

 Dr. H. J. Wheeler, of the Rhode Island 

 Agricultural Experiment Station. They 

 occur generally through the cool, humid 

 hill-lands of New England, the acidity 

 of which is notorious. They occur in 

 sandy pine barrens and peat bogs 

 throughout the eastern United States, 

 both of which are acid. They are ab- 

 sent, on the contrary, from limestone 

 soils, rich bottom lands, and rich woods 

 where the soils are neutral or alkaline. 

 In the lower elevations of the whole sub- 

 arid West, where acid soils are almost 

 unknown, these plants do not occur. 

 Within reach of the fogs and heavy rain- 

 fall of the Pacific coast, or on the higher 

 mountains of the interior, where condi- 

 tions favor the development of acid soils, 

 blueberries occur again in characteristic 

 abundance. 



CULTIVATING BLUEBERRIES IS EVIDENTLY 

 VERY PROFITABLE 



The experiments in field culture, as 

 distinguished from the experiments with 

 potted plants, have been in progress for 

 but a short time, and only after the lapse 

 of several years can definite statistics of 

 yield, cost, and profits be given. The 

 preliminary announcement of these ex- 

 periments, however, has brought out 

 one very interesting bit of information, 

 namely, that a 5-acre bog near Elkhart, 

 Indiana* set with wild blueberry bushes 

 about 20 years ago has for many years 

 produced large crops of berries, the area 

 yielding in some years a clear profit of 

 more than $100 an acre. The berries 

 are sold at 15 to 18 cents a quart, and 5 

 cents a quart is paid for picking. 



This is the only instance known to the 

 writer in which the cultivation of the 

 blueberry has heretofore been attempted 

 on an acreage scale. Without further 

 experience it is impossible to say whether 

 this yield is larger or smaller than may 



