UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 974 gq 
Contribution from the Bureau He Plant Industry 
WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 
Washington, D. C. PROFESSIONAL PAPER . October 15, 1921 
DIRECTIONS FOR BLUEBERRY CULTURE, 1921.’ 
By FREDERICK V. CoviLLE, Botanist. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. Page. 
Barly experiments with blueberries_ 1 | Propagation—Continued. 
Special requirements______--___-~__ 2 Root, euttings:. 20) 2 ey es 14 
Importance of superior varieties___ 4 Mound layering __________--__ 15 
Prépacation (3 fC tS See 6 Treatment of young plants____ 15 
LEyris Pe Visca CME, OORGR Y ENGL Sees  ASE Sip Wuelitplentig et Ue oe 16 
S CUI. ee ere oo ee QT EVAN EN Ry er sche be a 8 ERD ek ca Nae 22 
Soil mixtures for blueberries___ 9) | Hybrid’) blueberries | 22 Leet 23 
SD earn aa bE ia LO eCON CHUSTOM jc Se Le yah sh 24 
Winter icithngses == ee ee 12 
EARLY EXPERIMENTS WITH BLUEBERRIES. 
The experiments which have led to the present publication were 
begun in 1906. The work of the first four years resulted in a publi- 
cation entitled “ Experiments in Blueberry Culture,” issued in 1910.” 
This work was widely distributed, and a copy came into the hands of 
Miss Elizabeth C. White, New ibe aatee N. J. Miss White at once 
perceived the significance of the experiments and the importance of 
testing their application to the waste lands surrounding her father’s 
cranberry bogs. An informal agreement of cooperation resulted. 
In 1913 this was replaced by a formal contract, the object of which 
was to provide suitable conditions for a field test of the blueberry 
hybrids produced in the course of the experiments at Washington, 
D.C. The location of the testing plantation is at Whitesbog, 4 miles 
east of Browns Mills, N. J., in the sandy, peaty, acid soil of the pine 
barrens. Up to the present time 16 acres have been planted with 
27,000 different hybrid seedlings. Thus far, about 18,000 of these 
1 Revised by the writer from ‘ Directions for Blueberry Culture, 1916,” which was 
published as United States Department of Agriculture Bulletin 334. 
2The publication mentioned, issued as Bulletin No. 193 of the Bureau of Plant In- 
dustry, gave a detailed account of the principles of blueberry culture, including the soil 
requirements and peculiarities of nutrition of the blueberry plant and the details of the 
growing of seedlings. It contained 100 pages of text, with 18 plates and 31 text figures. 
It was reissued in 1911. Both editions are now out of print. 
53319°—21—Bull. 974 1 
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