56 
AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
Josselyn seems not to have "been impressed with this fruit since, in his 
“New England’s Rarities” but one reference is made to the subject: “Bill 
Berries, two kinds, Black and Sky Coloured, which is more frequent.” (p. 
59 of the original.) 
The only other records which I have found are in the various floras and 
botanies which have been published since the beginning of the present 
century. 
Doubtless the reason for this apparent neglect is largely due to the abund- 
ance and excellence of the wild plants. There seemed to be no reason for the 
exertion incident to cultivation in order to procure a liberal supply of fruit. 
An occasional article in a newspaper has mentioned the wonderful produc- 
tiveness of the blueberry plants and suggested the practicability of culti- 
vation, but very little has ever been attempted along these lines. 
In New York and in Michigan abortive attempts at cultivation have been 
made. In 1882 Professor Goff then of the New York Experiment Station,, 
called attention to the fact that in the wild state the blueberry is superior to 
many of our cultivated plants, and a study of the subject was inaugurated. 
Pressure of other work, however, soon crowded the blueberries out. At the 
Michigan Experiment Station a considerable area was planted to high bush 
blueberries in 1887, but the work was afterwards abandoned. 
At the Arnold Arboretum, Jackson Dawson has grown many seedlings and 
has learned some valuable lessons regarding methods of culture. At the 
present time, however, there is practically no systematic attention given to 
the garden culture of the blueberry. 
THE MOST VALUABLE SPECIES. 
Probably ninety per cent of the fruit which reaches the market is of three 
species, viz.: Yaccinium Pennsylvanicum Lam., V. Canadense, Richards, and 
V. Corymbosum, L. The first of these species, commonly known as “Early 
Sweet” or “I,cw Sweet” is by far the most common and, in the wild state, 
of the greatest commercial importance. The fruit is usually large, sweet, 
bluish-black and covered with bloom. It varies greatly, however, in size, 
form and color. The plant is of low habit— 6 to 12 inches and on newly 
burned areas is very prolific. Old plants bear but few flowers or fruits in a 
cluster, but plants one or two years from the “burn” usually send up a 
prominent spike which produces freely. 
Yaccinium Canadense, commonly called “Velvet Leaf” or “Sour Top,” is more 
vigorous in habit than the first named species, being usually 1 to 2 feet in 
height, and grows more commonly in rather moist, rocky, not swampy local- 
ities. The foliage is soft and velvety and the fruit, which is larger and more 
acid than that of Yaccinium Pennsylvanicum, matures from two to three weeks 
later. It is not so popular in the general market as is the first mentioned 
species, but it is very prolific and its lateness in ripening is a point in its 
favor. 
Yaccinium Corymbosum, the “high-bush blueberry,” or the “huckleberry” of 
New York and Michigan, is of coarser habit,— growing 3 to 10 feet high— with 
minutely warty, greenish-brown, branches. It is usually found in swamps 
and moist woods, but often extends to dry hillsides. This species is very 
variable, not only in the habit of growth, but in its blooming characters and 
fruit. Not infrequently individual plants bear large quantities of fruit 
measuring % to % inches in diameter, while a black fruited variety (par. 
