Blueberry of happiness.

SIR - I would like to make a few observations about your article 'Only recently seen the light of day,' (August 24), about the blueberry.

It is referred to as an American fruit, which of course it is, but it, or a very close relative, is common all over Britain particularly in the peaty uplands where it is variously called bilberry, whortleberry, blackberry and in Wales whinberry and llusi.

Actually its cultivation has been established for some time in North America, particularly in New Jersey and above Trois Rivieres in Quebec. I fail to understand why it has never been cultivated in Britain. Blueberry pie, nowadays made mostly from cultivated berries, is almost as common in North America as the famous apple pie.

The Huron Indians are probably the ones referred to by the author as having mixed blueberries with ground corn to make a meal. But blueberries are commonly eaten by all Woods Indians as a welcome relief from an overwhelmingly meat diet. The berries are often mixed with something else. A common autumn treat among the Tsimsian of Canada's west coast is a mixture of blueberries and a fat made from the boiled oil of the eulachon fish. As they say, there's no accounting for taste.

RON STEWART

Sandy Lane, Caldicot, Gwent