The following letter written to the Geneva (N. Y.) Experiment
Station! by W. J. Scott, of Bridgewater, Oneida county, N. Y.,
gives another instance of success. He says: "About fifteen years
ago I planted a quantity of huckleberry bushes on my farm, tak-
*Ainer. Garden, 1888:186.
tPopular Gardening 6:41.
{Ann. Kept. 1883:287.
496 B USH-FB UITS
ing them from a cold, wet swamp. My soil is dry and gravelly
good corn land. The plants were of both the high -bush and the
low kind. They have borne abundantly, and we now have huckle-
berries by the bushel a good part of the season. The bushes grow
taller and better than those in the swamp, and the berries are a
great deal larger on both the high and low bushes." Attempts to
grow it at the Station have proved less satisfactory. Under date
of August 18, 1896, Professor S. A. Beach writes: "The heavy clay
soil upon which our small fruits are grown at this Station does not
appear to be at all favorably to the huckleberry, None of the
plants which are mentioned in the reports of 1882-3-5 are now
alive. We have made several attempts to grow this fruit from
seed and from rooted plants, but so far the results have not been
encouraging."
The best success in growing the low blueberries, like Vaccinium
Pennsylvanicum, has apparently been, not with ordinary garden
culture, but by transferring clumps of the plants to open pastures
or a similar location, mulching, and aiming to provide them with
nearly natural conditions. This is said to have been done to a
limited extent in New England. As found wild, the low blue-
berries are much benefited by occasionally burning over the
ground. The most rational system of management may therefore
be a systematic burning of these wild tracts, as often as needed,
with some care in aiding the plants to take full possession of
the ground.
There seems to be no reason why systematic treatment of
natural huckleberry land should not yield as good returns as any
other horticultural operation. An interesting instance of this kind
is reported from Michigan.* A farm of eighty acres, having ten
or fifteen acres of huckleberry swamp on it,*changed hands at a
lower price than otherwise, by reason of this "waste" tract. After
a vigorous campaign against berry-pickers, to establish his rights
of proprietorship, the owner, in 1880, sold fruit to the amount of
$700, and nearly as much in 1881. In other words, this ten or
fifteen acres of land, which was supposed to be a detriment to the
place, had yielded more money than all the rest of the farm. Such
*Mich. State Hort. Soc. Kept. 1881:231.
BOTANY OF THE HUCKLEBERRIES 497
swamps might be easily improved by supplementary planting
when the stand of bushes is imperfect.
On the whole, there seems to be no reason why the huckleberry
should not acquire a prominent place among the cultivated fruits
of our gardens, and in its natural habitats become a source of
very considerable profit. Its successful culture will doubtless
be chiefly confined to the eastern half of the country, principally
to the Allegheny region and Atlantic coast. The possibilities in
the cooler Eocky Mountain regions, or on the moist north Pacific
slopes, are unknown. So far as reported, all trials to grow the
huckleberry on the Plains have resulted in failure.
The name huckleberry is applied as a generic term to cover
the fruit of all species of the two genera, Gaylussacia and Vaccin-
ium. In a restricted sense, it is used locally to designate one or
more species of the former genus, the name blueberry being then
applied to fruit of Vaccinium species. In other cases the term
huckleberry is applied to black-fruited species of either genus.
The more general custom is to apply the name huckleberry to
the fruit of all.
The most important difference between these two genera is that
in Gaylussacia the fruit is ten-celled, each cell containing a single
seed, or properly a little stone, while in Vaccinium there are sev-
eral seeds in each cell, these being small, and the fruit forming a
pulpy berry. The seeds of the former, while less numerous, are
far more troublesome than those of the latter. The leaves and
branchlets of Gaylussacia are clammy with resinous dots when
young.
Many species belonging to these two genera are known, chiefly
in America, but only a few need be considered here. The follow-
ing are most important as fruit-bearing plants, with possible
adaptability to garden culture.
GAYLUSSACIA FRONDOSA (L.) Torr. & Gray. Blue Tangleberry or
Dangleberry.
This is a shrub growing from 3 to 5 feet high, with slender,
divergent branches, which in the new growth are reddish yel-
low, while the older wood is covered with ashy gray bark. Its
leaves are pale and glaucous or white beneath. The flowers are
borne in long, loose, drooping racemes. The fruit is large, sweet,
FF
498 BUSH-FRUITS
and pleasant, with a slight acidity, dark blue with a bluish white
bloom, and ripening late.
The species is found along the Atlantic coast from New Eng-
land to Florida and westward to Kentucky and Louisiana. In New
England it is said to occur only near the coast. By some this is
considered very promising for cultivation. It grows more readily
under culture than the following species, but at the Arnold Arbor-
etum, and in that locality generally, it is said to be unproductive.*
GAYLUSSACIA RESINOSA (Ait.), Torr. & Gray. Black Huckleberry.
This is a much branched, rigid shrub, from 1 to 3 feet high.
Its flowers are dull, reddish yellow, and borne in short, one-
sided racemes or clusters. The fruit is sweet, crisp and firm,
shiny black, without bloom. A white-fruited variety is occasion-
ally found, and others are reported having pear-shaped berries,
bluish fruit, or that which is covered with a bloom.
This species is found in open woods, on dry, rocky hills, and in
swamps, from Newfoundland to Georgia, and westward to Minne-
sota and the Saskatchewan. It is the common black huckleberry
of the market, and is well adapted to commercial purposes, owing
to its firmness and consequent shipping qualities. It is more diffi-
cult to start and transplant than some of the other species, which
is a serious disadvantage to the cultivator, Another objection to
the fruit of this genus is found in the little, hard, sharp-edged
nutlets, which give the fruit a seedy character. The smaller the
fruit the more noticeable this becomes, since there are ten of these
stone -like seeds in each fruit. I am told that this species is often
greatly injured by insect Iarva3 working within the fruit, especially
late in the season.
VACCINIUM PENNSYLVANICUM, Lam. Low or Dwarf Blueberry.
This is a low- growing, shrubby little plant, seldom over a
foot in height, with green, angular or warty branches. The
leaves are bristly serrulate, smooth and shining on both sides,
and the flowers are white or pale pink. The fruit is sweet and
fine flavored, commonly blue with a glaucous bloom, though forms
with nearly black fruit sometimes occur.
This is the earliest of the huckleberries to ripen, and one of
the finest. It is not so firm as the preceding species, but with
careful handling may be carried long distances, and is exten-
sively sold in market. It is found upon dry, rocky hillsides and
mountains from New Jersey to Illinois, and northward to New-
foundland and the Saskatchewan. It has not yielded readily to
the demands of cultivation. The best results have ordinarily
come from simply improving its natural conditions.
* Garden and Forest 7:328.
BOTANY OF THE HUCKLEBERRIES 499
VACCINIUM CANADENSE, Richards. Canadian Blueberry.
This is a low shrub, 1 to 2 feet high, with light green wood, and
much resembling V. Pennsylvanicum. Its leaves are broader,
entire, and downy on both sides, the crowded branchlets being
also downy. The fruit is blue-black, ripening later than that of
V. Pennsylvanicum.
The species occurs in swamps and moist woods from New-
foundland to the mountains of Pennsylvania, and westward to
Minnesota and the Rocky Mountains. It is primarily a northern
species, and not common in the United States except in northern
New England. From there and the Canadian provinces it is
sent to the Boston market in considerable quantities after the
home supply of the preceding species is exhausted.
VACCINIUM VACILLANS, Kalm. Low or Pale Blueberry.
This is a low, glabrous shrub, from 1 to 3 feet high, with yel-
lowish green stem and branchlets. The leaves are smooth and
very pale and glaucous, at least on the under side. The berries
are large and sweet, generally with a blue bloom, though some-
times black, ripening from the last of July to September. The
fruit is borne in clusters at the end of leafless branches of the
previous season's growth, and the plants are very prolific.
The species occurs chiefly in dry and sandy soil, from New
England to Michigan and Iowa, and southward to Missouri and
North Carolina. Growing as it does in dry soils, being a pretty
little shrub for ornamental purposes, and a prolific bearer, with
fruit of fine quality, it is one of the species which would seem
to be most promising for cultivation.
VACCINIUM CORYMBOSUM, Linn. Swamp Blueberry. High Huckle-
berry. (Fig. 111.)
A tall, handsome shrub, from 4 to 10 feet high, with yellowish
green branches which turn to a light gray with age, the bark on
old stems becoming rough and peeling off in shreds. The leaves
are narrow, mostly egg-shaped, either smooth or downy. The
flowers are large, and borne on the extremities of the previous
year's growth, as in the preceding species. The fruit ripens
from August to the latter part of September, and is widely
variable in shape, size, color and flavor.
The species varies greatly, and several botanical varieties have
been described. It grows chiefly in swamps and moist woods,
though sometimes found in dry, open pastures. It has a wide
distribution, occurring throughout the eastern half of North
America, from Newfoundland to Louisiana. It is probably the
most promising of all the huckleberries for cultivation. Experi-
ence has proved that it can be readily transplanted to garden
Fig. 111. High-bush huckleberry or blueberry. Vaccinium corymbosum.
JUNEBERRItiS 501
soil, and will continue to thrive and fruit. Being so variable in
the wild state, it offers the best of opportunities for improvement
and selection. Jackson Dawson says:* "I chanced upon a bush
in East Foxboro last summer which was 12 feet high, loaded with
berries of a beautiful blue, rich, juicy, and half an inch in
diameter, while some were even larger. In this swamp ten or
twelve good forms of fruit might have been found, and by care-
ful selection and hybridization there is no reason why the High
Bush Blueberry should not become an excellent and abundant
fruit, as it is more easily cultivated than any of the others." It
is said not to get wormy, like the Black Huckleberry.
JUNEBERRIES
The Juneberry has received but little attention in cultivation,
though not from any difficulty in growing it, as with the huckle-
berry. The greatest impetus to its culture came with the intro-
duction of the variety known as Success. This was brought to
notice by H. E. Van Deman, then chief of the Division of Pomol-
ogy of the United States Department of Agriculture. It was
found by him in Kansas, t having been brought from Illinois,
where it had been grown from seeds gathered in the mountains
of Pennsylvania. Mr. Van Deman gave it the name Success, and
began selling plants about 1878. Some ten years later the stock
was sold to J. T. Lovett, of New Jersey.
The Juneberry has often been confused with the huckleberry
in parts of the West. It was grown for a number of years by
Dr. James Hall, of Davenport, Iowa, who, under the name huckle-
berry, recommended its extensive planting as especially adapted
to that region. On the strength of these recommendations many
wild blueberry plants are said to have been sold throughout the
state, much to the dissatisfaction of the purchasers. The true
huckleberries or blueberries have never succeeded in this region,
and only those who were deceived, and got the Juneberry instead,
obtained any real value for their investment. On the strength of
these misrepresentations, the Iowa State Horticultural Society
passed resolutions of censure, cautioning all persons against buy-
*Garden and Forest, 1:184.
t Annals of Horticulture, Bailey, 1891:51.
502 BUSH-FRUITS
ing or planting any blueberry or huckleberry plants.* The Massa-
chusetts Horticultural Society awarded a silver medal to Benjamin
G. Smith for introducing the dwarf Juneberry into that state,!
and it is interesting to note that his plants were obtained from
Davenport, Iowa, whence it was being so widely boomed as huckle-
berry or blueberry. The Juneberry itself thrives well throughout
the West, especially the western species, Amelanchier alnifolia.
It is hard to prophesy regarding the future of the Juneberry,
but it will probably rank much higher in the estimation of growers
than at present. It thrives throughout the entire country, being
especially promising upon the Plains, where many of our bush
fruits do not well succeed. One point of great importance is its
ability to endure late spring frosts without injury. On this point
one grower says:t "Frosts that killed potato tops to the ground
had no effect in destroying even a portion of this wonderful
plant's product, even though the frost came as late as the middle
of May." The fruit is mild, sweet and pleasant. It lacks char-
acter and sprightliness as a table fruit, but this defect is readily
overcome by adding a few currants, cherries or gooseberries,
which are available at the same season of the year. To be at its
best it should be used when perfectly fresh, for it suffers much in
flavor by standing. This may prevent it from becoming popular
as a market berry. In fact, it ought to be primarily a home
berry. It is so easily grown, and the plants themselves are so
attractive that it may well find place in any home garden, how-
ever small.
One grave obstacle stands in the way of its successful culture-.
Every bird in the region will be there to help harvest the fruit.
Only two remedies are apparent either grow more Juneberries
than the birds can hold, or plant but few, in close clumps, and
protect them with netting. Benjamin G. Smith reports? having
been able to keep the birds away by scarecrows, which were
changed in position two or three times a day. Experience with
* Trans. Iowa Hort. Soc., 1877: 203.
tGardener's Monthly, 1878 : 306.
tNebr. State Hort. Soc. Rept., 1896:197.
gGardener's Monthly, 1878:306.
JUNEBERBIES 503
other fruit leads to the conclusion that very lively scarecrows
would be needed to interfere with the work of Nebraska birds. In
Europe, cheap netting is used for protecting cherries and similar
fruits, and this method could be adopted for a few clumps of June-
berries with slight expense.
The productiveness of the dwarf varieties is beyond dispute.
The plants are covered with a mass of fruit until ripe enough for
the birds to consider it worth their attention. In Nebraska it
ripens from June 10 to July 4, in New York somewhat later. It
will thrive upon any soil, as it is found from the lowest swamps
to the highest mountain tops, and when once established will care
for itself, if necessary, though it is, of course, benefited by good
cultivation and attention. It is absolutely hardy, and a planta-
tion will continue to thrive and bear fruit almost indefinitely.
The Juneberry is said to propagate from seeds as readily as
apples. It is more commonly multiplied from the sprouts which
spring up around the base of the plants. One Iowa grower
recommends root-grafting it on apple seedlings.* It has been
recommended as a satisfactory stock upon which to graft the pear.f
It has also been reported from Illinois as a particularly suitable
stock for the quince, J causing the fruit to mature earlier and
endure the winter better.
Enemies will doubtless appear, should the Juneberry come to
be generally cultivated. Already it has been noted$ that the plum
curculio is frequently found among the bushes, and many of the
fruits are stung by them. The berries were also found to be
injured by a coleopterous larva, not determined.
The different species are so variable in the wild state that
varieties would doubtless multiply rapidly were they to come into
general cultivation. Already several have been named. The one
named Success, previously referred to, is doubtless the most
widely known, but Professor Budd refers to four forms of Amelan-
"Trans. Iowa Hort. Soc., 1880:130.
tGardener's Monthly, 1861: 229, 300 and 361.
tTrans. Iowa Hort. Soc.. 1879 :440.
glnsect Life, 3:219.
504 BUSH-FRUITS
chier alnifolia,* which have been given varietal names according
to the source from which they have come. "Alpina" is the name
given to a dwarf form received from the mountains of Colorado;
"Gardener" and "Williams" were named for the parties from
whom they were received, and the name " Greene " was applied to
a variety received from Greene county. He reports all of these
more satisfactory in Iowa than either the eastern United States or
European species.
The genus Amelanchier, to which the Juneberries belong, is
closely related to the genus Pyrus, which includes the apple and
pear. The species are not numerous, and all are closely related.
The following are of most interest from a horticultural stand-
point :
AMELANCHIER CANADENSIS (Linn.), Medic. Shad-Bush Juneberry.
This is the best known form in the eastern part of the country.
It often reaches a height of forty feet, with a tall straight trunk
and small spreading branches, forming a narrow, oblong, round-
topped tree. It occurs from Newfoundland to Florida, west to
Louisiana and eastern Nebraska, and farther northward to the
Rocky Mountains. Though a desirable ornamental tree, its large
size is against it as a fruit -bearing plant. Many of the trees
growing wild appear to be sterile. The hills are dotted with their
white bloom in early springtime, but comparatively few fruiting
trees are found in summer.
A. BOTRYAPIUM (L. f.), D. C. Dwarf Juneberry. A. Canadensis
var. oblongifolia, Torr. & Gray.
This is a low plant, from two to five feet high, bearing smaller
flowers than the preceding species. It is found from Quebec and
New Brunswick to Virginia, and west to Missouri and Minnesota,
and is one of the most promising forms for cultivation. The
variety known as Success belongs here.
A. OLIGOCARPA (Michx.), Roem. Northern Dwarf Juneberry.
This is another dwarf form, two to four feet high, found in
cold swamps and mountain bogs from New York and Northern
New England northward to Labrador and Newfoundland. It is
highly recommended as an ornamental plant and the fruit is said
to be large, dark blue-purple, with a heavy bloom, often nearly
*Popular Gardening, 6:2.
BOTANY OF THE JUNEBERRIES
505
Fig. 112. Amelanchier : alnifolia.
twice as long as broad, sweet, with a more decided flavor than
that of the other Juneberries.
A. ALNIFOLIA, Nutt. Western Service Berry or Shad Bush.
(Fig. 112.)
This is a low shrub, usually only a few feet high, though
rarely becoming a slender tree. The leaves are broad, oval or
506 BUSH-FRUITS
nearly circular in outline, and the fruit ripens from June to Sep-
tember, according to location. It is dark blue, or sometimes
nearly black, covered with a glaucous bloom, very sweet and
juicy, and is said to reach from half an inch to nearly an inch in
diameter. The species is widely distributed over the western half
of the continent, extending eastward as far as the western shores
of Lake Superior and the northern peninsula of Michigan. It is
one of the most promising species as a fruit-producing plant. Its
great productiveness and the large size and good quality of its
fruit are likely to place it in the lead for the western half of the
country, at least.
THE TREE CRANBERRY (Fig. 113)
The so-called tree cranberry or cranberry-tree is not a cran-
berry in any sense of the word. It has received this name owing
to a superficial resemblance of its fruit to that of the cranberry.
Though round and red like the cranberry, in structure and flavor
it is entirely different. The plant belongs to the Honeysuckle
family, the species being Viburnum opulus, Linn. It is a tall and
nearly smooth shrub, with gray bark, scaly buds and large, three
to five-lobed leaves, the lobes pointed and commonly few- toothed.
The flowers are white, borne in broad, flat clusters, and are fol-
lowed by the bright-colored fruit which is carried on the tips of
the branches, well above the leaves. The species is much better
known in the modified form in which it commonly appears in
cultivation, which is the guelder rose or snowball tree so fre-
quently planted upon lawns. In that form it has become entirely
sterile, by the culture adopted to bring out the spherical head of
bloom. In the wild type only the marginal florets are neutral.
The species is found wild in the northern parts of Europe, Asia
and North America, and is in many respects a more desirable
ornamental plant than its modified descendant. Although pleas-
ing in habit and foliage, it is especially attractive in fruit. About
the last of July the berries take on a greenish yellow or orange
hue, tinged with bright red on the side toward the sun. From
that time until spring, unless taken by the birds, which com-
monly do not molest it when other food is abundant, the fruit is
always attractive. When ripe in autumn it becomes a brilliant
THE TREE CRANBERRY
507
Fig. 113. Tree Cranberry, Viburnum opulus.
deep scarlet and remains so until severe frosts, which cause it to
become somewhat duller, though it will remain conspicuously
bright all winter if allowed to hang. This renders the plant
attractive throughout the greater portion of the year. Its flowers,
too, are as graceful as those of the sterile form.
The plant deserves all the praise it is likely to receive as an
ornamental, but as a fruit -producing plant it is of doubtful value.
The fruit is said to be very,sour, but more agreeable than the true
cranberry. It is used to 'some extent as a substitute for it, and
makes good sauce or jelly, though too astringent to suit some
508 BUSH-FRUITS
palates. A very serious objection appears in the large size of its
seeds, though different plants vary somewhat in this respect.
Were it not for this defect it might become a fruit-producing
plant of considerable importance. Its name, tree cranberry,
is a standing temptation to smooth-tongued agents to recommend
the plant as a satisfactory substitute for the cranberry, suited to
upland soils and regions in which the cranberry does not succeed.
In such cases it must prove a disappointment, though deserving
the highest praise for the purposes to which it is adapted. The
plant is perfectly hardy, so far as cold is concerned, and can be
grown in almost any soil or location. It may be propagated by
layers, by hard-wood cuttings, or by seeds, though the latter
require two years for germination.
THE BARBERRY
Unlike many of the fruits which we have been considering, the
barberry has once been popular and has since declined in favor.
It may, therefore, be appropriate to substitute for a modern
description of the plant that given by Gerarde in 1597. He says:
" The barberry plant is an high shrub or bush, having many young
straight shoots and branches very full of white prickly thorns, the
rind whereof is smooth and thin, the wood itself yellow: the
leaves are long, very greene, sleightly nicked about the edges,
and of a soure taste: the flours be yellow, standing in clusters
upon long stems: in their places come up long berries, slender,
red when they be ripe, with a little hard kernell or stone within,
of a soure and sharp taste: the root is yellow, disperseth it self
far abroad, and is of a wooddy substance. Wee have in our London
gardens another sort, whose fruit is like in forme and substance,
but one berry is as big as three of the common kinde, wherein
consisteth the difference. We have likewise another without any
stone, the fruit is like the rest of the Barberries both in substance
and taste."
In regard to its distribution, Gerarde says: "The barberry
bush grows of it selfe in untoiled places and desart grounds, in
woods and the borders of fields, especially about a gentlemans
THE BARBERRY 509
house called Mr. Monke, at a village called Iver two miles from
Colebrooke, where most of the hedges are nothing else but Bar-