#whitesbog

[dix-a-la-proprietaire]

Whitesbog - Pine Barrens NJ

[hagleyvault]

We’re observing the last day of National Blueberry Month today. After years of lobbying, the North American Blueberry Council persuaded the United States Department of Agriculture to make it official in 2003. In recognition of their achievement, here’s the cover for Jacob Biggle’s 1905 Biggle Berry Book. One of a series of farmers’ manuals covering topics like gardening, beekeeping, livestock, and orchard management from Jacob and Harriet Biggle of Biggle Farm, the Biggle Berry Book introduced readers to the cultivation of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries, and other berry favorites.

Just don’t expect to find blueberries within its pages, as they (sort of) hadn’t been invented yet. After many failed attempts to cultivate wild blueberry plants, the modern blueberry was introduced to American agriculture after 1911. That was the year that Elizabeth Coleman White (1871-1954), defying the widespread belief that blueberries could not be cultivated, invited botanist Dr. Frederick Vernon Coville (1867-1937) to join her at her family’s cranberry farm in Whitesbog, New Jersey to develop a commercially viable blueberry crop. After years of research, the two successfully developed the first cultivated blueberry bush in 1916.

The Biggle Berry Book is call number SB381 .B58 1905 in Hagley Library’s published collections. To view the work in our Digital Archive, click here.

[thehistorygirlnj]

The General Store/Post Office at Whitesbog Village, part of Brendan T. Byrne State Forest, in Burlington County, #NewJersey. #Whitesbog was the largest cranberry farm in New Jersey in the early 1900s and is also the place where the highbush blueberry was first successfully cultivated. This building was constructed in 1924 (to replace an earlier general store building around the corner, serving customers since 1899) and functioned until the late 1960s. Today, it still functions as a retail outlet for @whitesbogpreservation and is open on weekends. A post office functioned at Whitesbog from 1923 to 1957. #nj #njhistory #SpreadTheHistory #historygirl #history #travelblog #travelblogger #blogger #blog #history #ushistory #history #americanhistory #explorenj #njspots #jerseycollective #journeythroughjersey #architecture #archi_ologie #burlingtoncountynj #pinelands #pinebarrens #brendantbyrnestateforest #southjersey #whitesbogvillage #generalstore (at Whitesbog Preservation Trust) https://www.instagram.com/p/CE5SpOHjY3K/?igshid=139iles0h7akg

[dendroica]

Union Pond at Whitesbog (by me)

[thehistorygirlnj]

Suningive at Whitesbog Village, part of Brendan T. Byrne State Forest, located in Burlington County, #NewJersey. #Whitesbog was the largest cranberry farm in New Jersey in the early 1900s and is also the place where the highbush blueberry was first successfully cultivated. Suningive was built in 1923 as the home of Elizabeth Coleman White. Elizabeth Coleman White, in 1921 successfully cultivated the nation’s first modern #blueberry crop with Frederick V. Coville. #nj #njhistory #SpreadTheHistory #historygirl #history #travelblog #travelblogger #blogger #blog #history #ushistory #history #americanhistory #explorenj #njspots #jerseycollective #journeythroughjersey #architecture #archi_ologie #oldhouselove #burlingtoncountynj #pinelands #pinebarrens #brendantbyrnestateforest #suningive #southjersey (at Whitesbog Preservation Trust) https://www.instagram.com/p/CExqB_yDrJA/?igshid=1m4mkhx15nj1k

[dendroica]

Red Maple, Acer rubrum (by me)

[dendroica]

Silky Dogwood, Cornus amomum (by me)

[dendroica]

Black-bordered Lemon Moth, Marimatha nigrofimbria (by me)