HUCKLEBERRY (probably a corruption of hurticberry, wharticbcrry, whortleberry, probably from AS. wyrtil, OlIG. teurzala, Ger. Irurzci, root + berry: apparently confused with AS. hcortbcrge, heorotberge, hartberry, from hecrrt, heorot, stag, hart + beige, berry). A term now applied indiscriminately to various small, hardy shrubs of the genus Vaeeinum (order Vae einiacete). The flowers of these plants have a four or five toothed ealvx, four or five eleft bell shaped corolla, with the limb bent back, and eight to ten stamens with two-horned anthers. The fruit is a four fo five celled, many-seeded berry. The numerous representatives of the genus, mostly confined to the Northern Hemi sphere, are common in the north of Great Britain, Europe, and throughout North America. In nature the huckleberry is represented by numer ous species, and as each of these show marked variations in size of fruits and productiveness, the wonder is that so attractive a native plant should have existed so long apparently unheeded. The plants range in size from six inches in Vac einum Pennsylvanicum, to five to ten feet high in Vaceinum corymbosum, and bear fruits from ne eighth inch up to five-eighths inch in diameter. In color they are equally variable, showing all shades from waxen black, blue, and white, to red in one species, Vaeeinum Vitas-Ithea, which is often called cranberry because of the likeness of its acid fruit to that of the cranberry.
While the huckleberry has been successfully transplanted to gardens, grown from seeds and grafted, it has nowhere been cultivated in a commercial way. In certain portions of the United States wild plants are protected and cared for in order that the fruit may be secured for the canneries or markets. The "blueberry barrens" of Maine, an area of some 150,000 acres in ex tent, is a notable example of the preservation of a native product from which is derived a large annual income. The annual pack from this region alone is about 30,000 cases of 24 cans each, valued at $57,000. Besides forming a valuable commer cial product when canned, the huckleberry is ex tensively gathered and marketed for dessert pur poses. Although naturally a dry, rather seedy fruit, the larger specimens are juiey, and pos sess a most agreeable flavor. The huckleberry is also used for preserves and jellies, as well as for making wine and distilled liquors. In America, however, its chief value is as a dessert fruit, both in a fresh state and when canned.