Native people originally harvested the berries where they grew naturally, that is in treeless barrens or where forested areas had been burned over after lightning strikes.
The early settlers began to harvest the fruit for their own use after the manner of the native people. Wild blueberries were originally handpicked and packed in small wooden boxes, canned, and taken by schooner and then by rail to urban markets.
In the 1800’s, a hand rake was developed (and since improved upon) and is still in use on Wild Blueberry fields. It was the rake developed by Abijah Talbot of Columbia Falls, Maine that became the standard for the industry. This rake was similar to those used for harvesting cranberries, but had metal teeth and a flat bottom like a dustpan.
The first experimental blueberry harvester was done in 1961, which was a modified design of a mechanical cranberry picker, consisting of a series of six raking combs. The developed harvester was able to pick blueberries in a direction opposite to the travel of machine.
A mechanical harvester was developed in the 1970’s at the University of Maine and a version of this tractor now harvests more the 80% of the Wild Blueberry crop.
History of blueberry harvesting
