Oxford Democrat., 1921-07-26
Blueberries.

yohCo luoy Woto Sub VI oU0 W uumou
| ity, - doubtless they were intended tc
be. Anyway, In years gone BY, they
were community berry and could be
had for the picking, no matter In whose
pasture or on whose hilltop they grew,
By and by Q sense of ownership took
possession of those who happened to
hold q deed to their habitat, and they
began to be looked upon as source oi
profit.
The history of the blueberry is but q
repetition OF that of other wild berries,
but with q difference. The strawberry,
the raspberry and the blackberry, once
to be had only In the wild state, have
been domestioated. They have been SO
enlarged and improved In the process
that the wild specimens live only by suf.
ferance, and are not considered as q
source of profit. But not 90 the blue
berry. 1t was wild,-wild az partridge;
and like that bird refused to be domesti-
Gated.
When Q people arrive at Q state of civ
ilizstion, and begin to give up savagery,
they always try their hand at improving
on the works Of nature, and what they
cannot improve they exterminate. The
length of time 1t takes In either process
depends upon the vitality of the native
product. The blueberry possessed vital
lity. 1t would grow largely where other
fruits would not, and 1t objected to do
mestication. By and by the chemist
stepped in and began to study her hab
it's, and the kind of soil she grew in and
came to the conclusion that even q blue
berry could be conquered given the
right kind of ammunition.
Massachusetts, has gone farther, per-
haps, than any other state In the tanning
of the blueberry. Sidney B. Haskell OF
the experiment station, that state, has
been interviewed and this Is what he
said:
"The bluebsrry is wonderfully well
suited to our soils. These soils are acid
1t has been estimated that to bring our
land to what chemists call q neutral or
sweet condition will require an expendi
ture of approximately $4,000, 900 and an
annual additional expenditure of g..
225, 900 to keep our soils in that condi-
ton which is essential to the proper cul-
ture Of most farm crops.
"But In the blueberry We have q po-
tential farm crop that thrives on acid
soils and never grows to perfection on
land over-rich in lime. Therefore, why
not put some of our lands into profitable
blueberry culturep
"The reason the blueberry has not
been brought into culture long before is
that until recently people did not know
how to propagate 1t, how to prune, fer.
tilize, spray and otherwise handle this
native bush crop in the manner of do.
mestic farm fruits.
"Of all the wild fruits native to New
Epgland, none excels the blueberry In
it's particular season. Yet 1t is almost
the only important native fruit which
had not been brought into culture in q
large way. Selected varieties developed
OK xperimentally show superb quality and
are very large. In some cases clusters
are as large as mans fist.
"The cost OF harvesting cultivated
blueberries is az much less than the ex.
pense OF the slow process Of picking wild
huckleberries as Is the cost of handling
the cultivated strawberries below that Of
picking the tiny red morsels that grow
by the side of country roads.
Everything indicates that Massachu.
setts is about ready to establish a COM
mercial blueberry growing industry. A
part of it doubtless will be located on
the low sandy areas adjacent to some of
our cranberry bogs, and more of 1t on
the upland pastures all over the rest Of
the state.
"Blueberries can be eaten fresh. They
can be canned. There Is apparently no
limit to the market which might be de.
veloped for this succulent fruit. The
harvesting season comes when farm work
is not pressing. The lands to which
blueberries are best adapted are often
too rough and too acid to be more than
moderately adapted to the growth OF
other crops.
"The Massachusetts, Agricultural Ex.
pertinent Station has q small blueberry
plantation operated In connection with
the cranberry station at Wareham. One
OF the most striking things on this plan
tation are two rows of blusberries, one
with the plants transplanted from the
wild, just as they happened to come; the
other transplsnted with definite inten.
tion of getting the better bushes.
most striking way the possibilities OF
bueberries' culture. It shows for one
thing that not all blueberries are blue
some are black-yet all are true blueber-
ries. The black blueberries are usually
small, commonly earlier than the blue
blueberries, rather unproductive, and OF
rather low table quality; although some
of them are very sweet and would be
worth while were 1t not for their small
size.
"And then there are oil sorts OF sizes and
shapes and favors of the blue bluebsrry
Some kinds are unproductive; others are
quite otherwise. Some plants ripen
early; others very late. On some plants
the berries ripen together so that the
harvesting may be done very cheaply; on
others individual berries ripen here and
there 80 that at no one time can the crop
be harvested. All of these types put
together show the necessity OF careful Be-
lection in order to make commercial
berry culture profitable.
"But on this experimental plantation
there is more to be seen than these two
comparative rows. Several years ago Mr.
Frederick Coville of the United States
Department of Agriculture found out
how to propagate blueberries and devel
oped number of selected varieties.
"Tbrough the cooperation of the Bu
reau of Plant Industry of the United
States Department of Agriculture some
of the better of those varieties have beer
sent to the Cranberry Station for trial.
The difference between the selected
berries and these srtifloIally produced
/ varieties is even greater than between
the selected and unsolicited rows OF wilG
berries.
"The new varieties are very large. In
dividual berries nearly half an incl
through are common, and larger berries
BY no means uncommon.
"The quality OF these berries is superb
their attraotiveness when prepared fol
the table unexcelled."
Safeguard Health of Flock.
Accumulstions of manure In the hen
house are Objectionable upon grounds o
sanitation, but not more 90 than deaf
jpoultry. How often have you seen ,
dead chicken thrown into the road o.
trampled into the barnysrd manure
The disposal of these dead bodies Offer
. problem for the poultrymsn, the cor
rect solving Of which In many cases be
comes q very important matter. This i
especially true, of course, In cases o
death from contagious diseases, and thi
lfncludes n large proportion of pOultr,