Blueberry Breeding in Georgia

The vigor and productivity of plants of the rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei) set in 1925 at the Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station, Tifton, Georgia, indicated commercial possibilities. A collection of these varieties selected from the wild in Florida and Georgia was made and a breeding program, in cooperation with the U. S. D. A., was begun in 1940. Since initiation of this program, about 16,000 seedlings have fruited, an additional 6,000 were set in the field during the past two years, and 1,500 other seedlings have been potted from crosses made during 1959.