302 
[August, 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
infusion of native blood are sufficiently hardy to 
plant out in our Northern States. Those who have 
written about this exhibition have evidently re¬ 
garded the Rhododendrons as rare exotics, for the 
reason that a shelter was put over the plants to pro¬ 
long their season of bloom, while in England, they 
with several others, are known by the distinctive 
name of “American plants.” That the rhododen¬ 
drons were brought “ so far,” and then were 
“ made to bloom so richly,” is no reason why one 
should “wonder.” If there is a plant that is indif¬ 
ferent to removal, it is a hardy rhododendron. 
Crossing the Atlantic is nothing in comparison with 
the treatment we have known them to survive. It 
is one of the very few plants that may be taken up 
from the open ground while in full bud or bloom, 
put into a pot or tub, or even have a mat around 
the ball of earth containing its roots, be exhibited 
for a week, and then be put back in its place and 
go on and make its buds for next year, without 
minding the disturbance. On this account, rhodo¬ 
dendrons are capital plants for tenants, as they are 
as readily moved from place t® place as the cook¬ 
ing-stove, or other household article. Now that 
thousands of people have seen this fine show of 
these charming plants brought from abroad, they 
will be surprised to know that quite as flue and 
larger collections are to be seen in this country; 
near Boston, the private grounds of Messrs. H. H. 
Hunnewell, C. S. Sargent, and E. S. Rand, Jr., con¬ 
tain really magnificent collections of choice rhodo¬ 
dendrons, and the commercial grounds of Hovey & 
Co., at Cambridge, are rich in fine old specimens. 
Near New York, Messrs. S. B. Parsons & Sons, and 
R. B. Parsons & Co., of Flushing, have these plants 
by the acre, all of hardy, well tested kinds. We 
hope that those who saw the rhododendrons at 
Philadelphia, have been so impressed with their 
beauty that their cultivation will be more general 
than it now is. We have these many years set 
forth the claims of these plants, and have many 
times stated that we did not know how a given 
amount of money could be so satisfactorily invested 
as in rhododendrons. Some who have written upon 
their culture have prescribed such a preparation of 
soil as would deter any unskilled person from try¬ 
ing the plants. Perhaps for the greatest possible 
perfection, a peaty soil is desirable, but the plants 
will be quite satisfactory in any good soil that docs 
not contain much lime. On a limestene soil, spe¬ 
cial preparation must be made, but ordinarily they 
will grow where any other shrub will succeed. The 
most brilliant varieties must, in the Northern States, 
be housed in winter, but there is a sufficient num¬ 
ber of fine sorts, giving a wide range of color, from 
white through rose and lilac to the different shades 
of purple, that withstand the most rigorous winters 
of New England. No plant is better adapted to 
ornament a city front yard ; a single plant, even, is 
attractive, and a group of contrasted colors still 
more so. We advise those who propose to plant 
rhododendrons, to confine their first attempts to 
varieties of well tested hardiness, and for this, the 
experience of our own dealers who make a special¬ 
ty of these plants will be the best guide. 
——-—- 
The Huckleberry. 
[At the annual meeting of the New Jersey Hor¬ 
ticultural Society, held in New Brunswick in Janu¬ 
ary last, among other papers presented, was one 
on the Huckleberry, by Mr. C. W. Idell. This be¬ 
ing a novel subject—indeed, so far as we are aware, 
this fruit has never before been mentioned in hor¬ 
ticultural meetings—the essay was listened to with 
great interest, and was followed by a discussion. 
As Mr. Idell is one of our best known commission 
dealers, handling large quantities of all kinds of 
fruit, he naturally gave especial attention to the 
manner in which huckleberries are gathered for 
market, especially in New Jersey, and to the fruit 
in its trade relations. We give the portions of the 
paper which treat of the picking and marketing 
the fruit, and so far as we felt sure of them, have 
included', in [brackets], the botanical names, to 
connect the trade names with the plants that pro¬ 
duce them. Ed.] 
Persons who live in densely populated and highly 
cultivated portions of the State, cannot realize that 
in our counties bordering on the coast, we have 
thousands of acres of land that have never been 
tilled, whose surface is covered with forests of trees 
and bushes, that produce annually millions of bush¬ 
els of these berries. The surface of the land on 
which this fruit grows, is mostly level and sandy, 
with the exception of the lower portion, which 
contain large swamps, where, until quite recently, 
this berry grew undisturbed, in all its native wild¬ 
ness and beauty. Large fires often break out in 
these districts, and devastate hundreds of acres, 
burning every tree and bush, but owing to the 
rapidity with which it travels, the heat does not 
always penetrate the soil sufficiently deep to de¬ 
stroy the roots of the bushes, consequently they 
soon spring up again with renewed vigor. Should 
these fires take place in the spring or early summer, 
the roots start readily, and by the fall often obtain 
a good growth, so that by the next season many of 
them begin to bear fruit, and from the second to 
the fifth year produce the largest berries and yield 
the heaviest crops. 
Botanists place the plants producing our market 
huckleberries, in two genera of the Heath family. 
One, [ Gayhcssacia] , has its leaves quite sticky when 
warmed by holding in the hand, due to minute 
specks of resin ; the fruit of these has very hard 
seed, or little nuts in place of seeds. The others 
are Vacciuiums, from the ancient Latin name. 
The first to ripen, are those that are home by 
bushes about two feet high, these [ Vaccinivm va- 
cttlans ] grow on the higher and dryer portions of 
the land, and some say that where the surface is 
rolling, the fruit attains to a large size ; these are a 
small, sweet, blue berry, and are covered with a 
fine bloom, and being hard, carry well. 
The “ Swamps,” so called from their growing in 
the swamp-lands referred to, ripen next in order, 
and are the largest and richest of all the varieties. 
Some of them grow as large as the common black- 
heart cherry, are sweet, and very juicy, and are also 
covered with a bloom, equal to that which covers 
the Concord grape. They are very tender in their 
richness, which causes them to carry badly. [These 
are from Vaccinium corymbosurn , very variable in 
the wild state]. This variety does not yield so 
quickly after burning, as the others, as it generally 
requires about three years to produce its first crop, 
yet in time it frequently grows to the Light of 10 to 
12 feet. 
The next in order- of ripening, is the common 
variety with which you are mostly acquainted ; it 
is medium in size, color light blue, sweet, without 
bloom, and is a good marketing berry. 
Another variety [Gaylussacia reslnosa], is medium 
in size, very hard, black, and glossy, and is known 
by the name of “Cracker.” It has a tart flavor, 
and full of seeds which crack as you eat them, 
hence their name. They are not popular with the 
native consumers, but owing to their solidity, they 
are sought for by the shippers of this fruit to send 
to distant cities, where they do not have the privi¬ 
lege of selecting other and better kinds. 
There is another variety that grows very abund¬ 
antly in Ocean County, which I believe is somewhat 
confined to that section, and is known as the “ Ilog- 
berry.” When ripe it is of a grayish-brown, quite 
large, dry, and hard, consequently bears transpor¬ 
tation well, but does not possess much flavor. 
\Gaylussacia dumosa], 
A later variety is called the “ Bill,” or “ Dangle- 
berry,” they are large, of a bright blue color, 
slightly acid, and quite juicy, they grow on long- 
stems, hence their name, “Dangle.” [Gayhmada 
frondosd j. 
The peculiar feature of this fruit is, that when 
picked with the stems on, they keep dry, but when 
separated the juice oozes from the berries, and in 
warm weather soon sours them. 
The latest variety is called “ Shiny Blacks,” on 
account of their being so glossy ; they arc a trifle 
tart, but possess a good flavor, and last until the 
frost destroys them. [Probably one of the varie¬ 
ties of Vaccinium corxymbosum\. 
This fruit begins to ripen by the first of July, 
then a succession of ripenings take place the entire 
season until killed by the frost. The first arrival 
of Hucldeberries in the New York market is eagerly 
sought for, and are frequently sold from $10 to $12 
per bushel, but as the quantity increases, the price 
gradually declines until it reaches $4 per bushel, 
when large quantities are received and sold at this 
price, and were it not for the interference of other 
fruits, I question if the price would fall bc-low that 
figure; but a large crop of peaches seriously inter¬ 
feres with them, as well as all other kinds of fruit. 
As all this fruit grows wild, all are free to go where 
and when they choose to gather it, consequently 
thousands of persons, mostly women and children, 
find it a source of much pecuniary profit. 
Mr. David Rogers, of Cedar Creek, Ocean Co., N. 
J., a veteran “ carter,” to whom I am indebted for 
much valuable information, informs me that “he 
knew of a family of seven persons, mostly children, 
who made $25 per day for two weeks in succession, 
by picking berries, and quite a number of girls to 
make $5 per day ; and it is a very common occur¬ 
rence for a mother with her family, from five to six 
children, to gather from three to five bushels per 
day. Of course the receipt of cash was in propor¬ 
tion to the market value of the fruit, yet in the 
early part of the season they frequently sold them 
from $5 to $6 per bushel.”—Now what these per¬ 
sons could do, others could do also, and it shows 
conclusively that a large amount of money is earned 
by the people yearly, in picking this fruit. 
In an interesting letter from Mr. Rogers, he says, 
“ If you wish to see a happy set of laborers, take a 
ride with a carter through his district when he goes 
to gather the berries, and see the group of smiling, 
happy faces that crowd around the wagons to ex¬ 
change their berries for the money, for you must 
understand this point, they don’t trust. True, they 
look happy, and are, but many of them dress in 
unique, if not beautiful style, but their dress is 
adapted to their work, and when you see these 
young women with torn dresses, or perhaps with a 
pair of pants on made of strong drilling, you would 
not realize that they were the same beautiful girls 
that you saw on Sunday at church, dressed in the 
richest of silks, as closely pinned back as any Broad¬ 
way belle, yet they are, and they are the women 
whose in-ice is above rubies, many of whom now 
adorn the homes of many men of wealth and re¬ 
finement.” 
As this fruit is scattered over such a large surface 
of country, the mode of gathering and marketing 
it is peculiar. It is done by a class of men who are 
called “carters.” Previous to the ripening of the 
fruit, these men provide themselves with a number 
of boxes which contain either 8 or 18 quarts each, 
the 16 quart boxes are made without lids, but have 
a narrow strip across the top in order to prevent 
one box from dropping into the others, and damag¬ 
ing the fruit; at the same time it answers as a 
handle to the box. The S-quart boxes are generally 
packed in skeleton cases with lids, each case con¬ 
taining either 4 or 6 boxes. When the fruit is sold, 
these boxes are returned to the shipper to be re¬ 
filled. In the beginning of this shipping business 
they made use of an ordinary box containing from 
16 quarts to 11 bushels, and occasionally 3 bushels 
would be sent in one package, but this system ne¬ 
cessitated the measuring of the fruit, which in time 
created dissatisfaction among the shippers, owing 
to the shrinkage in the measure reported as sold, 
from the quantity sent; gradually the present sys¬ 
tem was introduced, and these two kinds of boxes 
are now used by all the large shippers in the State. 
These carters select a portion of the “Pines ” which 
they call their route, they drive through this route 
and meet the pickers at a named point, and at 
stated hours, and buy their fruit. This plan is 
adopted for the convenience of both parties, as it 
saves time and fatigue to each, yet these pickers are 
not so isolated that they cannot, or do not learn 
the prices paid by other carters. When the carter 
has gone his rounds and gathered his load of fruit, 
he proceeds with it to the nearest depot, and ships 
it to market, where it is generally sold by the box, 
not measured, as that would injure it. Years since, 
before the railroads penetrated every county of the 
State, these men had to cart the fruit many miles 
before they could reach a shipping point, and in 
