THE STATE
A Weekly Survey of North Carolina
Kat*r«l u («os'! eUai null». Jun* I. 1333. al lb* P.«.|o»»» >1 lUIOch. Norlb
Carolina, unil.r Ih- Act of March 3. 1*73.
Vol. VII. No. 4 June 24, 1939
Blueberry King
of the World
lie's si Ysinkee from New Jersi\v
sinil in nine ye sirs lie lists linill up.
in Pender County, the largest
blueberry fsirni in the world. And
lie's making good money out of
it. too.
Dl I > you know flini in
Pender County, iibnui fifteen
mile. from Hurgnw, there is llio
biggest blueberry farm in tin* world?
Then* arc one hundred and forty
acres. of which
1<м»
an- In-aring this
year.
Twelve thousand crate*. each crate
containing 16 pint baskets, are .hipped
every year from this farm.
Two other large farm* also are
loeuted in that section and in all
there are approximately thirty
у
lowers
who expect their berry bushes to start
Is-aring within two or three years.
It is a comparatively new industry
and very little is known of it in the
«tale. Our information concerning it
came from Mr. Leon Corbett, an at¬
torney nt Iturgaw. Mr. Corbett «ug-
gested that we take a trip down
through that section and he’d l«* glad
to show us some of the farms.
So We went last Wednesday and we
drove out to I lie farm of Mr. II. <•.
Huntington.
Came From New Jersey
Л
word about. Mr. Huntington, lie
is a native of Xew .lersey and he and
his folks have l-s-ii in the bliicls-rrv
raising business for many years, lie
got the idea, nine years ago, that good
results could be obtained with lierric.
in this section of the country, so he
canto down and made an investigation.
He found in I'cnder County exactly
the tyjMj land he wanted: n light layer
of peat at the lop and then sand on
hardroek. He brought a large quantity
of rutting» from his nurseries in New
Jersey and proceeded m get to work.
Webster says, about blueberries, that
-the blueberry differ* from the huckle¬
berry in containing numerous minute
seeds, instead of leu nutlets." As a
matter of fact, the hlueboiiy is one of
our newest hurries. Dr. Frederick
Ooville, botanist with the V. S. De¬
partment of Agriculture, experimented
with huckleberries and other varieties
and made numerous crossings for
many years lieforc he got exactly the
right kind of lierry. By the way. his
son — Frederick f'oville- is also rais¬
ing blueberrie- in Pender and. next
to Mr. Huntington, is the largest
grower in Pender at the present time.
Mr. Huntington gradually increased
his acreage until he now has 100 acres
of hearing hushes. They grow to a
height of approximately live feet. All
of the berries on a hush don't ripen
at the same time, so it is necessary
to make three or four pickings off
each l*u*h. During the pickiuir season
approximately live litindn-d Negro
workers are
огпр1оу«ч|.
The small plant, are put in a
cold frame for one year to root. Then
Harold G. Huntington, whose 140
acres in blueberry bushes have been
the means of opening up a new indus¬
try in that section of the State.
they must remain in a nursery for
about two years. After they an*
transplanted ill the fields it require,
from three to four more year, before
they will .tart bearing, »o you
м
that
it lak.-. about seven years altogether.
Mr. Huntington started out with
three acres and. since that lime, Im-
lieen adding to his acreage every year.
Droughts don’t bother him any, be
cruise lie Ini' pill ill .'III extensive in i
glltioii .vstem which provides nil of
the moisture that the laud and bn.lie-
need. ( Incidentally, it cost him
around *15.ot>0 to get this .et up.)
He ha. Ilm-C large .hod. when* the
picker* carry the lierric. and when-
they an- lacked and pn-pared for
shipment.
Practically all of the blueberries in
the country that arc sold oil a large
