Yol. LXXX. 
Published Weekly bv The Rural Publishing Co.. 
383 VV. 30th St.. New York. Price One Dollar a Year. 
NEW YORK. .TUNE 11. 1921 
Entered as Second-Class Matter. .Tune 20. 1870. at the Post 
Office at New York, N. Y.. under the Act of March 3. 1870. 
No. 4642 
Culture of Blueberries in New Jersey 
O NE GROWER'S EXPERIMENTS.—For several 
years past we have told of the remarkable 
experiments in blueberry culture which have been 
conducted by Miss Elizabeth ('. White of New Lis¬ 
bon. New Jersey. Some years ago Miss White be¬ 
came convinced that it was quite possible to develop 
a new fruit industry by cultivating some of the 
remarkably fine blueberries to be found in the 
swamps of Central New Jersey. She worked in 
connection with the Department of Agriculture at 
"Washington, and has met with unusual success in 
the work. For many 
years people have 
tried to domesticate 
the wild blueberry. 
The usual plan was 
to dig up the plants in 
pastures or swamps, 
and transplant them 
to a place in the fruit 
garden. Invariably 
this plan resulted in 
failure. Even when 
given the finest care 
the plant failed to 
live and thrive. It 
finally became evi¬ 
dent that the trouble 
was that these wild 
plants do not find a 
congenial place in the 
rich soil of the ordi¬ 
nary garden. They 
are at home in acid 
soil. It is their na¬ 
ture to live under 
such conditions as 
surround them in the 
pasture or swamp, 
and in order to make 
them thrive away 
from their native 
haunts it is necessary 
to reproduce as far 
.as possible the con¬ 
ditions which are 
found in nature. Act¬ 
ing upon this sug¬ 
gestion. Miss White 
has learned to propa¬ 
gate these plants and 
make them grow successfully. This is done by 
planting them in acid soil and keeping that soil in 
an acid condition, or as nearly as possible like the 
soil of the pasture and swamp. Considerable work 
has been done in breeding new varieties on the usual 
plan followed by plant breeders. It was also found 
that many superior plants were growing wild in the 
swamp and upland. Miss White offered prizes to 
the pickers who could locate and point out the 
l ushes producing berries of a certain large size. A 
number of such berries were located, and the plants 
were identified and cuttings made from them. These 
were propagated, and in that way a number of very 
superior varieties have been secured. 
IMPROVED BERRIES.—The whole story reads 
much like a romance. It is a very practical one, 
however, as the business has developed to large pro¬ 
portions and bids fair to add a new industry to 
Central New Jersey. We give below some of Miss 
White’s directions regarding the culture of these 
blueberries, and at Fig. .‘510 is a picture showing the 
striking contrast between the size of the old-fash¬ 
ioned huckleberry and the modern cultivated blue¬ 
berry. This difference is not entirely in size. The 
cultured blueberries are very much finer in quality 
and are practically seedless. The recent freeze did 
great injury to the blueberry crop, which is n it: 
likely to be much over one-lialf of the normal this 
ferenees in the ability of these cultivated plants to 
withstand the frost. In some cases, even in the 
same row. of the same parentage, there will be one 
plant entirely untouched by the frost between two 
that have been completely blackened. It may be 
possible that this will lead to the development of 
certain strains which are more or less frost proof. 
Fig. 311 shows a packing shed where the pickers 
bring the berries for packing and shipment. 
CULTURAL DIRECTIONS.—Blueberries require 
an acid soil, preferably one composed of peat and 
sand. The ordinary garden is not suitable, but a 
small space can be converted into an excellent blue¬ 
berry patch very easily. In light, well-drained soil 
a 6-in. layer of peaty material should be spaded in 
and thoroughly mixed with the top 12 in. of soil. 
To heavy soil a liberal amount of sand should be 
added, or a trench may he dug 3 or 4 ft. wide and 
about a foot deep, and filled with a mixture of two- 
thirds sand and one-third peaty material. Never 
use lime or stable manure. For peaty material we 
recommend partially rotted leaves, because excellent 
results have been secured by using them. Those 
which rot quickly, such as maple leaves, do not 
answer the purpose so well as those which rot 
slowly, like oak leaves, pine needles or laurel leaves. 
Probably the “peat"’ easiest for many people to 
obtain is partially- 
rotted sawdust or the 
pur! ially-rotted chips 
and litter that are 
always to be found 
around an old wood- 
pile. This answers 
the purpose in every 
way. It is quite pos- 
de that other vege¬ 
table matter could be 
substituted for the 
above—apple pomace 
or damaged beet pulp 
might serve. If any 
one has an oppor¬ 
tunity to use such 
substances wo should 
like very much to be 
informed of the re¬ 
sults. During the 
first stages of decay 
vegetable matter fur¬ 
nishes the necessary 
acidity, and later as 
the decay proceeds it 
also furnishes plant 
food. When this dis¬ 
integration is almost 
complete the acidity 
disappears. On wild 
blueberry lands the 
acidity is naturally 
kept up. but where 
soil has to be spe¬ 
cially prepared for 
blueberries it is nec¬ 
essary to add fresh 
leaves or other vege¬ 
table matter each 
year to maintain the proper acid condition. Blue¬ 
berry plants are most successful on soil that is 
always damp, but never soggy wet. They require a 
continuous supply of moisture, but become sick when 
they have “wet feet.”’ 
SETTING TIIE PLANTS—The plants may be set 
out any time after frost is out of the ground. They 
should he placed at least 4 ft. apart, otherwise the 
branches are likely to interlace within three or four 
years and make picking difficult If the soil is not 
prepared when the plants are received they ma\ be 
heeled in where the sun does not strike them and 
where the ground is damp, or they may be put in a 
cool cellar. Never permit the roots to dry out. Set 
th? plants abou half an inch deeper than they were 
in the nursery: water thoroughly when they are 
planted. Before warm weather comes mulch the 
Copyright, 1921, by Joseph J. White, Inc. 
Specimens of Cultivated Blaeberries Grown in New Jersey. The Specimens are of Natural Size, One Spoon 
Containing Ordinary Berries, the other the Cultivated' Soils. Fig. 310 
year. Miss White says that there are striking dif- 
