Part 78 (1/2)

Blueberries thrive best on soils which are so acid that they are usually considered almost worthless for ordinary agricultural purposes.

Blueberry culture, therefore, offers possibilities of profit to individual land-owners in districts in which the general conditions are especially hard and unpromising. Blueberries can not be grown in ordinary fertile soils.

Although frequently confused, especially in the South and in the Middle West, blueberries and huckleberries are quite distinct. In New England the name ”huckleberry” is restricted to berries which contain 10 large seeds with bony coverings like minute peach pits which crackle between the teeth, while the name ”blueberry” is applied to various species of berries containing many but very small seeds. It is the latter, not the large-seeded huckleberry, which offers possibilities for profitable culture.

At the present stage of the blueberry industry it is best to begin by transplanting the most promising wild bushes, selecting them for the size, flavor, color and earliness of the berry as well as for the vigor and productiveness of the bush. These plants can be propagated in various ways, which are described in detail in a professional paper of the department, Bulletin No. 334, by Frederick V. Coville. The aim of the cultivator should be to secure bushes which will produce large berries. These cost less to pick than small ones and bring a higher price on the market. A berry eleven-sixteenths of an inch in diameter has already been produced under field culture.

The three fundamental requirements for successful blueberry culture are: (1) An acid soil, especially one composed of peat and sand; (2) good drainage and thorough aeration of the surface soil; and (3) permanent but moderate soil moisture. Next in importance to these essentials is a location such that the berries may reach the market without delay. The best prices are obtained about the beginning of the wild blueberry season. The main crop of wild blueberries comes from northern New England, Canada and northern Michigan. A location to the south of these areas where the berries will mature earlier is, therefore, to be desired for the commercial cultivator. One of the most promising districts now known is the cranberry region of New Jersey, where berries mature early and the s.h.i.+pping facilities to the market in Philadelphia, New York and Boston are good.

Another important factor to be considered in selecting a location for a blueberry patch is the possibility of late spring freezes. For this reason the bottoms of valleys should be avoided. Freezing seldom injures the blueberry plant itself, but the fruit crop is often destroyed in this way. From past observations it appears that wild blueberries growing in or around bodies of water frequently escape the injurious effects of late spring freezes, and it seems, therefore, that a flooding equipment for blueberry plantations similar to those used for cranberry bogs may, under certain circ.u.mstances, prove commercially advantageous.

At the present time, however, only a beginning has been made in blueberry culture. The yield and profits in field plantations from improved bushes have not as yet been ascertained. There is, however, one small planting in Indiana where complete records have been maintained for the past six years. This plantation was started in 1889 in a natural blueberry bog, which was first drained and then set with wild blueberry bushes transplanted without selection for individual productiveness or size of berries. On this plantation the yield per acre has averaged 1,741 quarts for the past six years. This average would have been somewhat higher except for the almost total failure of the crop in 1910, due to late spring freezes. An average of 14-1/2 cents a quart has been received for the berries and the net profit per acre is estimated at $116 a year. In this estimate allowance has been made for interest, taxes and depreciation. The expense for weeding, cultivation, and irrigation is placed at $20 an acre and the cost of picking at five cents a quart.

HOMEMADE FIRELESS COOKER.--A wooden or tin pail, lined with two thicknesses of paper and provided with a close-fitting cover, may be used for the outside container of the cooker. Allow for three inches of packing on all sides and at the bottom of the pail. A gallon oyster can will serve very well for the nest, which should be wrapped on the outside next to the packing with asbestos and a piece of asbestos placed under the bottom to prevent the scorching of the packing when hot soapstones are used. Shredded newspaper and excelsior make a good packing. Pack this very tightly around and to the top of the nest, the top of which should be about three inches below the lid of the outside container. A piece of cardboard cut to fit inside the lard can with a circle cut out of the center around the top of the oyster can or nest will hide the packing and make a neat finish. Place a three-inch cus.h.i.+on of unbleached muslin, stuffed tightly with excelsior, on top of the lid of the nest. When the top of the outside container is placed on and hooked down, it will be tight enough to cause a pressure. If a tin pail is used for the outside container, it may be enameled white, or a wooden pail stained brown, making a neat-looking appliance for any kitchen.

Regular aluminum fireless-cooker utensils may be used for cooking the food in the nest, but any kind of a vessel with a close-fitting top and one that fits closely in the nest is suitable.--U.S. Dept. Agri.

Hardy Perennials.

MISS GRACE E. KIMBALL, WALTHAM.

There has been very little in my work with hardy perennials that seems worth relating. For many years, in Austin, we had iris, peonies and phlox in our garden. While my love for flowers and outdoor work led me to spend all my time, outside of office hours, in the garden, the iris and peonies, especially, never gave any trouble but grew and blossomed in the most approved fas.h.i.+on. With the phlox we have had more trouble, sometimes in dry seasons not getting the bloom we should, and finally, the last year we were there, losing nearly all the roots we had. I am now inclined to think that had we divided and transplanted them some years before, we would not have lost them.

It was only a few years ago that I began to realize that herbaceous perennials could, with success, be planted in the fall in our climate, and it was not until two years ago that I made any attempt at fall planting. That year I was quite successful, but last year, wis.h.i.+ng to divide as close as possible, especially with the iris, I evidently overdid the matter, with the result that I lost many of my plants.

However, I learned my lesson, and this year they were not divided so closely, and I am hoping that they will come through the winter all right.

With the hardy perennials easily raised from seed my first experience was with the oriental poppy. I had greatly desired to have some in the garden and, not knowing that the fall was the time to plant them, ordered some one spring. They failed to grow, so the next year I attempted to raise them from seed, starting them in the house as I did my pansy seed. But I was far from successful in that way, and having read some articles on the difficulty of raising them from seed, also learning that they should be set out in the fall, I made up my mind they were not worth bothering with.

However, father suggested I might succeed by planting the seed in the shade out of doors, and even though it was quite late in the summer I got more seed and sowed it broadcast in a hedge of lilacs, syringas and so forth, kept the ground moist, and in a short time had many plants coming up. I also had ordered a few to be s.h.i.+pped me in the fall.

By fall my seedlings were large enough to be transplanted into boxes, to be moved as we were moving from Austin to Waltham. With those I had ordered for fall delivery, they were moved to our new place, the boxes sunk in the ground, and the next spring put into a hedge with other plants--for while they do not stand transportation very well in the spring, I have been successful in transplanting them from one part of our grounds to another at that season.

Since coming to Waltham I have started the seeds of the poppy, larkspur, columbine and gaillardia in a grove near the house, where they are easily kept moist. If I get the seed in early in the spring, the plants are often large enough to transplant in the fall. However I like better to plant the seed later, about the time the first blossoms from each variety have ripened their seed. The seedlings will then be large enough to withstand the winter with a little protection and ready for spring transplanting.

With a comparatively small amount of work, and very ordinary care, once the plants are set out anyone can have continuous bloom from early spring until frosts come, by setting iris, peonies, phlox, columbine, poppies, larkspur, gaillardia, giant daisy and painted daisy. Such a selection would make a big variety of color and form in the garden, and all but the first three kinds can be very easily raised from seed. Or not wis.h.i.+ng so many kinds, one can have flowers all summer by a careful selection of several varieties of iris, peonies and phlox.

Why Should We Grow Seedling Apples?

ISAAC JOHNSON, WEST UNION, IA.

There is no work in fruit growing that has more taken my attention and given me more pleasure than the growing of seedling apples. For many years I have been of the opinion that apples for this severe climate must be grown from seed. If we succeed in growing hardy, productive and good keeping varieties, they must be native, or raised at home. By experimental work along in this line of growing fruit we have come to this conclusion that fruit trees do best grow at home.