WHAT INTERACTIONS AMONG NATURAL, CULTURAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CAPITALS EXPLAIN THE ADOPTION OF BLUEBERRY CULTIVATION IN THE RETREAT AREA OF NEW JERSEY DURING THE PERIOD 1800-1950? By BRAD WESCOTT THOMPSON A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2011 1 © 2011 Brad Wescott Thompson 2 To my mother Shirlee Wescott Thompson and brother John Wesley Thompson III whose support made this dissertation possible 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I first wish to thank my committee members who worked tirelessly to help me finish this work. They include Walter Judd (chair), Margret Carr, Roy Graham and Hugh Popenoe. In addition I also wish to acknowledge Marylyn Swisher who directed my early efforts, Mark Brennan who helped with the final review of Chapter 5, and Elizabeth Bolton who offered moral and technical support. I also enjoyed the support of a large cadre of faculty and staff who advised and helped me bring this rather large multidisciplinary work to a successful conclusion. They include Jim Probert, Sylvia Montesinos, Rose Emory, Anne More, Kay Williams, Stanley Latimer, Martin Simpson, Steven Noll, Barkley Philips, Christian Russell, Gerald Cullen, Nyda Torres, Ken Booth, Wendy Thornton, James Boncheich and Robert McSorley. I have also benefited from a number of colleagues who have helped me over the years. They are Jeff Ashley, Anne Todd Boccarie, Diana Cundel, Bill Brently, Harry Woodcock, Edward Dowden, Charles Block, Rich Horwitz, John Collins, Tom Schraudenback, Carol Franklin, Leslie Sauer, Jordana Shane, Mathew Baker, Neal Peterson, Rachael Wilson and Robert Zimmerman. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the University of Florida Library and its staff for the preservation and access to a vast agricultural collection and to a number of librarians who went out of their way to help. They include Jan Swanbeck, Colleen Seale, Blake Landor, Denise Bennett, Merrie Davis, Valerie Davis and the staff of Inter Library Loan. In addition, two librarians, Margaret Frame and Margret Delaney, from the Burlington County Library, need to be acknowledged as well. And finally the collection at the Sally Stretch Keen Memorial Library in Vincentown, under the careful watch of Judy Alloway, was utilized in this research and is also appreciated. Special acknowledgment must go to Marilyn Graf of the Archives of Traditional 4 Music at Indiana University who retrieved from the collection, folk songs and interviews of from people who lived in my study area during the time of the study. This project also relied on the people of Vincentown and Retreat whose memory of the early days of the blueberry industry was so important to this research. They include my father and grandmother, and my friends, neighbors and family including Grace Wells, David Wells, Thomas Budd, Edman, Budd, Raymond and Virginia McGill, Edna and Bob More, Bobby McGill, William Hagerthy, Helene Thompson, Mildred Clevenger, John Stevenson, Hellen Zelley, Denny Dole, Fred Dietrich, Bob Reeves, Carrie Ann Grunder, and Donald Bozarth. Of blessed memory are Katty Buzby, Sir Peter Sheperd, Ian McHarg, Teressa Wescott, Danny Clevenger, Elva Ware, Florence Thompson, John W. Thompson II, Theodore Budd, Pauss and Theron Wells, all of whom informed this work. A special note of gratitude needs to be extended to my friend and key informant Marie Coville Thompson Ortner who introduced me to the three essential factors that led to the successful introduction of the blueberry into row agriculture. She not only shared her memories of her grandfather’s work, but also opened her personal family archives to my research. Last but not least are my friends and colleagues who constantly reminded me that this journey would come to a successful conclusion. They include Patricia Bentley, Molly Moon, Jennifer Gove, Patricia Thompson Ryan, Jean Larsen, Laura and Jim Winefordner, Alexander Hannah, and Tucker Feco, Scott Chackard, Fernanda Pernjambuco, Peggy Bustard, Patty Chackard and the members of the Monthly Meeting of Philadelphia and Gainesville Monthly Meeting of Friends. To all of the above I owe an enormous debt of gratitude. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...............................................................................................................4 LIST OF TABLES .........................................................................................................................10 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................11 ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................13 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................14 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................................19 Early Geographic Concepts of Landscape ..............................................................................20 Cultural Landscapes ................................................................................................................21 Revisiting Cultural Landscapes as a Concept .........................................................................27 Sense of Place ..................................................................................................................28 Central Place Theory .......................................................................................................31 Applied Ecology .....................................................................................................................33 Landscape Ecology ..........................................................................................................33 Systems analysis ..............................................................................................................36 Odum ........................................................................................................................36 Gunderson and Holling ............................................................................................37 Suitability Analysis .................................................................................................................39 Origins .............................................................................................................................39 Ian McHarg ......................................................................................................................40 John Lyle .........................................................................................................................40 Social Theories of Landscape Change ....................................................................................42 SES Theories ...................................................................................................................42 Agent-Based Models .......................................................................................................45 3 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................53 Research Design and Case Selection ......................................................................................53 Site Selection ..........................................................................................................................55 Theoretical Constructs ............................................................................................................57 Variables Representing the Construct .............................................................................58 Methods and Procedures ..................................................................................................58 Interviews .................................................................................................................58 Archival data ............................................................................................................61 Image analysis ..........................................................................................................62 Spatial analysis .........................................................................................................63 6 4 RESULTS ...............................................................................................................................65 Introductory Remarks .............................................................................................................65 Thematic Analysis ..................................................................................................................65 Ecological-Natural Capital .....................................................................................................66 Geology ...........................................................................................................................66 Inner and Outer Coastal Plain ..........................................................................................67 Surface Water .........................................................................................................................68 Hydrology ........................................................................................................................68