UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
M BULLETIN No. 334 
•^ja.'/Tg^ Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 
jZ^^'^yu WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief .jZfi?^ 
Washington, D. C. PROFESSIONAL PAPER December 28, 1915 
DIRECTIONS FOR BLUEBERRY CULTURE, 1916/ 
By Frederick V. Coville, Botanist. 
CONTENTS. 
Special requirements 1 
Importance of superior varieties 3 
Propagation 3 
Stumping 4 
Soil mixture for blueberries 5 
Tubering 6 
Winter cuttings 8 
Propagation— Continued. 
Boot cuttings 11 
Treatment of young plants 11 
Field planting 11 
Yield and profits 15 
Conclusion 16 
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS. 
Success in blueberry culture rests especially on the recognition of 
two peculiarities in the nutrition of these plants : ( 1 ) Their require- 
ment of an acid soil ; (2) their possession of a root fungus that appears 
to have the beneficial function of supplying them with nitrogen.^ 
If blueberries are planted in a soil with an alkaline or neutral 
reaction, such as the ordinary rich garden or fertile field, it is useless 
to expect their successful growth. In such a situation they become 
feeble and finally die. Blueberries require an acid soil, and they 
thrive best in that particular type of acid soil which consists of a 
mixture of sand and peat. (See PI. I.) 
Good aeration of the soil is another essential. It is commonly but 
erroneously supposed that the swamp blueberry (Vaccinium corym- 
tosum) , the species chiefly desirable for cultivation, grows best in a 
permanently wet soil. It is to be observed, however, that the wild 
plants of the swamps occupy situations which, though perhaps sub- 
merged in winter and spring, are exposed to the air during the root- 
1 Revised by the author from the original paper of 1913, entitled " Directions for Blue- 
berry Culture," which was published, without illustrations, as pages 3 to 11 of Circular 
122, Bureau of Plant Industry, and was also separately printed. 
- For a full discussion of the principles of blueberry culture, including the soil require- 
ments and peculiarities of nutrition of the blueberry plant and the details of the growing 
of seedlings, consult " Experiments in Blueberry Culture," Bulletin 193, Bureau of Plant 
Industry, 1910, or the corrected reprint of 1911. Although the edition of this bulletin 
was long since exhausted at the Department of Agriculture, copies may be obtained from 
the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, for 25 cents each. 
12904°— Bull. 334 15 
