I have no hesitation in giving this book 5 stars. My slight reservations are very minor and could be put down to the complexity of the subject and to editing rather than failings on the part of the author. It is a complex subject and after spending some time with the book I am much clearer about blueberries etc. It details comprehensively the history of the cultivation of blueberries, cranberries and lingonberries as well as other members of the genus. It lists lots of varieties, pests and diseases in depth, how to grow them in the garden and on a small scale commercially. I feel it is slanted towards the small commercial grower and as a gardener i would have liked slightly more detail in some areas- eg propagating cranberries by layering which is what gardeners tend to do and when it comes to feeding them I would probably find it easier to get the information I need if I had 4 acres rather than 4 plants. The information is there but I will have to work for it.
One thing I noticed about the book is the absence of line drawings and the occasional one would have helped. An example is on page 35 where she sets out how the cranberry berry is formed. For a non botanist it was not easy to follow but, as I understand it, the way the berry is formed explains why it floats.
I think a little more editing would have helped. There are 3 chapters on blueberries; lowbush, northern highbush and a further chapter on rabbiteye, southern highbush etc. To find out about propagation of northern highbush varieties you have to leaf through all 3 chapters till you find the information in the third chapter. This is reasonable as propagation is the same for all varieties but you can't find propagation in the index and the table of contents does not tell you that propagation is detailed in the third chapter.
There are some confusions too. The index says the cultivar Grover is on page 133 but it isn't. The cultivar Chandler is listed twice in the index on pages 132 and 133.It does indeed appear twice and is described twice although the second description is shorter. I am not clear about the reason for the choice of northern highbush cultivars included. I struggled to find the cultivar Goldtraube. It is mentioned only (as blauweisse-goldtraube) but it is not described despite being widely grown. It is not clear why it is not described. The list of highbush cultivars described is long and is introduced as follows " I have listed the cultivars below" There is no indication that it is not a complete list or why the ones listed have been selected. On the plus side I did find it very useful to have them listed in order of ripening.
A long list of comments but let's put it in context. The niggles are minor compared with the high quality of the book. I bought the hardback which was published in 2004 and does not seem to be available now. The paperback in print is dated 2009 and I would be interested to know if that edition differs in any way. I am very pleased I bought the book and I think that anyone interested enough blueberries etc to buy the book will not be sorry. I am sure that like me they will learn a lot about a complex subject. The author says in the preface that the book clarifies the Vaccinium story. It has certainly helped to clarify it for me
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Kundenrezensionen
Spitzenrezensionen aus anderen Ländern
R. Clark
first class with only minor niggles
Rezension aus dem Vereinigten Königreich vom 29. Oktober 2013Verifizierter Kauf
Robert S Simpson
Five Stars
Rezension aus den Vereinigten Staaten vom 29. Mai 2018Verifizierter Kauf
Mark Edwards
Technical Pursuits
Rezension aus den Vereinigten Staaten vom 11. März 2010Verifizierter Kauf