The sun., 1916-11-19
B
The National Pie Fruit.
Dy JOEL sIIOMAKEp.

1 s,oo Tho b~,,cEiaharra, Aofda ~ u,oafern
yyosb,nr,on oho,t tho 1htb ~ August
nd onno,,ncod ,hs onsr,ng ~ tbs sea-
aor Tor tbo.o delic,ou. Iittie Wild fruits
aaror,v ,o,ah, h,, r,r, noorIo a. noa,
.xcoiiort Mo o,i.r.
THO h,,nri.h.rrv nm, q. ..nortea a.
.ro,nIs,nn hn,,or r.trrp, tb,n Tor sev-
oroi voar, ara Tho horve., 4. exn.cted
,o lao, vr,u of,.r ~. Chris,ma. ho,i-
a. rho,.ana. -, usn ,yomen and
chi,drsn and ro.,,,Ior cmnlovment In
n,ct,rg and .h,nniny buckleberries and
.n,,rn ,o-r,r,,,o. c,coyo In tho ,vork
,h.t ,ns,,raa d,,,,. pcomes four months
IN Tho yo,r
it,, oa,, u,,,ror oo,or,n, IN 80.
,,o, SOD. a,nmars uve,i.
100 n,,rora insorms mo- thai h. has
-. 49,. ~ 90 h,,o ga hoy. On
80 .uon.s hv~.n,ohorr,, n,a. to .ot.
TO-. ~ ISs"ond s,,hn.uh ~. .nn,.
."y - 49,. ha,.a 49, ,risras
III -. -" on,,hI,. H., ~, 90
,,. , =. .ho o,.nr ,,,. hy.LIohorrv
on, ,n.r,o. .,,o,r,a o. r.~cocni.
-
C.,, or. doc r,.Le,.
-. a. $50, nouna o. oil
,ho h,-or,arorrto, ill.,, Wv no con-
- a. ,hou, "a =, 10 .nid that nroh-
Ill. ono 90. ~, ,Lo horr,o. no into
.ho ,,r. -, comr,orcs o,oro,ed In tho
p,,,o, ca,.d on,r,ry every season
Ttssa rrvt,s ,ra nanorou,, sh,rned IN
I,a.,arn a;,Ioa "a ho,,,L, IN, u,ho,o-
.,,ors % ho r,o1o into i,ms %io,,io. and
the dc,,c,ci.s or used for ~suupIvinp
irico, 10 t,o soy, dr,nk caterer.
rho c,,v morke,s Tor b,,ckioberr,es
,,rv IN nrices h~ecinninr M nfteen
con,s ,rd d~r,nnipc N Ave during the
wocI,. ,vbcr Tho heaviest IA
an th.n ,uinpinr bark to ten or twelve
cont. a bound Inc, heSore Christmsa.
Then the children are in school. the
rains disturb picbcrs and the supply
q, herrie, does not equal the demand
H~ucklcbcrrles crow on small,
shrubby busbcs. Of the tyne,
and are OF a distinct class of wild
fruit known MS Vaccinum. Some
/ times they arc called blueberries. then
, again they are termed w~hortleberries
, and in some sections are recognized
AS hurtleberries The fruits are gen.
; orally black or blue, but one variety.
more deciduous than the others, is
red.
IL is claimed that h~uckleberries are
, native to sour or acid soils, but the
; bushes find places TO grow In many
States where forests once covered the
earth. They are found in the Puget
Sound region OF western Washington,
growing 10 perfection where the log
> GERS have taken of the timber and
/ burned over tho surface. Some bushes
I reach a height Of ten feet, when pro-
;. tected by shade, but ordinarily they
( range around two to four feet. cspe-
cially when In the open and bearing
fruit.
I Indian legends tell us that before
white men entered the forests anc
= made OF the timber. the
y natives considered It a duty to burr
0 over certain sections Of woods. where
o huckleberries grew, in order to pro
4 duce fruits, grasses and feed for bears
8 and deer and other animals, so tina
the rcdmen would have good hunting
grounds during the autumn when tn,
n animals were feeding on the burned
r over spots, eating berries and pick
i ing grasses and other v~egetatiom-
y When doing business II a city neal
the Colville Indian reservation ol
Washington I was attracted &c a grouI
Of Indians carrying tin buckets file,
with choice, large blueberries Of ex
Il cellent quality. The rcdmen became
s very quiet when asked where thos'
berries came from. simply pointing 4
s the mountains, but were ready I,
answer quickly and say ~"Sevent.
cents a gallon when asked about thu
price.
a We pick and ship something lik,
two md n half tons n year from GU
l. nursery, the berries being abou
evenly mixed with blue and black va
y riet!es. They so on the Seattle mar
ket az huckleberries. and sell through
commission houses for 6 "a l2 cent
d n pound. About o%ne-fourth Of tn
q returns must be paid out for boxe.
~ freight, carriage and commission. tn
q latter charge being Is per cent.
Ia A good picker can harvest an aver
'e age of nifty pounds OF huckleberrie
n n day. provided conditions are favor
'c able and the distance from the has
ID of operations TO the home is not to
great. Some pickers boast Of gather
ing as much as ninety pounds in
'e day. but the ordinary man or woma
going TO the berry fields collects a