2 BULLETIX 334, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 
forming period of summer and autumn or, when growing in perma- 
nently submerged places, they build up a hummock or a cushion of 
moss which rises above the summer water level and within which the 
feeding roots of the bush are closely interlaced. In actual culture, 
moreover, it has been found that the swamp blueberry does not thrive 
in a permanently wet or soggy soil. 
Although some species of Vaccinium, such as the common low- 
bush blueberry of the northeastern United States, V. angustifolium 
(called V. pennsylvanicum by some authors), grow and fruit abun- 
dantly in sandy uplands that are subject to drought, the swamp blue- 
berry grows best in soils naturally or artificially supplied with 
adequate moisture. 
These, then, are the three fundamental requirements of successful 
blueberry culture: (1) An acid soil, especially one composed of peat 
and sand; (2) good drainage and thorough aeration of the surface 
soil; and (3) permanent but moderate soil moisture. Under such 
conditions the beneficial root fungus which is believed to be essential 
to the nutrition of the plant need give the cultivator no concern, for 
even if the necessary fungus were wholly lacking in the soil of the 
new plantation each healthy bush set out in it would bring its own 
supply of soil-inoculation material. 
Xext in imjDortance to soil conditions is a convenient location with 
reference to a good market. The berries should reach their destina- 
tion without delay, preferably early in the morning following the 
day of picking. To secure the best prices they should also reach the 
market about the beginning of the main wild-blueberry season. A 
situation to the south of the great areas of wild blueberries in north- 
ern Xew England, Canada, and northern Michigan is therefore de- 
sirable. One of the most promising districts for blueberry culture 
is the cranberry region of Xew Jersey, for there an ideal soil occurs 
in conjunction with an early maturing season and excellent shipping 
facilities to the markets of Philadelphia. Xew York, and Boston. 
Situations liable to late spring freezes, such as the bottoms of 
valleys, should be avoided, for while the blueberry plant itself is 
seldom injured by freezing, its crop of fruit is often destroyed in 
this way. 
In seasons in which the wild crop of upland blueberries has been 
destroyed by late spring freezes, it has been observed that in or 
around bodies of water, such as cranberry reservoirs or cranberry 
bogs temporarily flooded to prevent frost or insect injury, the wild 
bushes often produce normal crops of blueberries. It may be found 
that provisions for flooding blueberry plantations will save a crop 
often enough to warrant the installation of flooding equipment. In 
locating a blueberry plantation, therefore, it would be well to choose 
a situation that could be flooded, if flooding proved later to be com- 
mercially advantageous. 
