HUCKLEBERRIES

The huckleberry, blueberry, bilberry, and eranberry constitute the principal members of a large group of closely related edible berries. The Craxsperry (which see) is easily and naturally distinguished by its red color, but the titles of Ifuckleberry, Blueberry, and Bilberry are variously and contradictorily emploved in different loealities. By New England custom, those of bluish color are popularly known as blueberries; those black or nearly so, as huckleberries. West and south of New England, the general tendency is to group all varieties under the common name of huckleberry, in spite of the fact that the market supply is chiefly of hineherries. Botanieally, blueberries and bilberries (as also cranberries) are now ascribed to the Vaccinium genus and huckleberries to Gaylu acia. Physically, blueberries and bilberries are generally sweeter, milder, and larger than huckleberries, and the seeds, thongh more numerous, are so much smaller as to be scarcely noticeable in eating. They are also generally a decided blue in comparison with the black Common huekleberry (G. baccata, or restnosa) but the color distinction is not abso- Inte because of the bluish tint of the Blue huckleberry, or dangle berry (G. froudosa), and the nearly black hue of a few kinds of blueberries. The name ‘‘whortleberry”’ is in the United States applied to the huckleberry, and in Europe to the bilberry. The numerous varieties a of huckleberries, blue be roo * Ph \. ries, and bilberries in size from that of a eur- “AY at fe F rant to a small grape, and; the wild bushes generally. 4 supply enough to meet the ‘| demand, but it is probable - 4 | that the future will see a —" r ea v. to the improvement of, these berries by selection and cro ing, and to yet more extensive producag: tion.. 4 The first to ripen in F the North is the Low, or —— — ~ dwarf, blueberry (V. penn- The High Bush huckleberry.; sylvan i cum), borne by a small shrub from six to fifteen inches in height, which grows and bears abundantly on the sand barrens and hills of Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the northeastern states. The fruit is also known as ‘‘sugarberry’’ and as ‘‘huckleberry,’’? with any one of numerous qualifications, as blue, blue sweet, early, early bine, early sweet, low sweet, and sugar. It has a bluish coat, which looks as though dusted with flour. Next come the Low blueberry, or ‘‘blue huckleberry’’ (V’. vacillans), the Canada blueberry (V. can a dense), and the Dwarf bilberry (V. cespitoswim). The Low blueberry (V. vacillans) grows on dry sandy ground of the North-east, especially west of the Alleghanies. The bush resembles that of the Low, or dwarf, blueberry (V. penusylvanicum), except that the plant is more erect and averages taller. The fruit is large, blue, and covered with bloom. The Canada blueberry, found in the Pennsylvania mountains and regions further north, is a shrub from one to two feet in height, bearing round or oblate blue berries, covered with bloom and pleasing in flavor, but more acid than that of other low-bush forms. The bush is also known locally as the ‘‘velvet-leaf’’ and ‘*sour-top.’’ The Dwarf bilberry, found in northern Maine and Canada, and several central and western states, is a small shrub from two to twelve inches in height, with large, sweet, blue berries covered with bloom. The latest in the market are the fruits of the High Bush blueberry, or ‘‘swamp blueberry.’’ or ‘‘swamp huckleberry’’ (V. corymbosum) of the northeastern states and the closely allied High Bush huckleberry of the Carol in as and elsewhere in the South. The bushes are tall—from four to twelve feet in height—and spreading in growth. The fruit of the High Bush blueberry is dark purplish; that of the High Bush huckleberry is nearly black. The crop is generally gathered with rakes similar to those frequently used in eranberry picking, a skillful ‘‘hand’’ sometimes collecting more than fifteen bushels in a day. Both men and women are employed for the work. The berries are afterwards winnowed in a machine which blows out the unavoidable proportion of sticks, leaves, and defective fruits. The poorer fruits are in some parts colloquially styled ‘‘crackers,’’ because their tough skins crackle when eaten. The term is also applied to the true huekleberry because the bony covering of the seed ¢rackles between the teeth. A sprig of blueberries is shown on the color-page opposite 42.