berry¹ n [ = any of the principal wild berries, esp bakeapples, blueberries, partridge berries, harvested commercially or for domestic use]. Cp DAE ~ 1.
   Attrib, comb berry bank: a hill or elevated plateau bearing wild berries. See also BANK 2.
   1933 MERRICK 29 The famous berry banks are just above Mininipi, and when we went ashore to boil [the kettle] we picked nearly a quart.
   berry box: wooden box used by pickers to carry harvest of partridge- and blueberries.
   T 1-631 We used to go berry picking and take berry boxes, forty or fifty, a couple of us together. We'd fill them. M 70-21 [Male] blueberry pickers often used a 'berry box' to transport their berries from the barrens to the community. This was a rectangular wooden box, fitted with a hinged cover and having two rope loops about one-third the way down, through which the man thrust his arms. Often there was an additional loop at the other side or back of the box through which he thrust a stick or pole which lodged on his shoulder and thus made the load easier to carry.
   berry crop: the harvest of wild berries.
   1976 Daily News 14 July, p. 2 Berry crops are blooming early this year and the director of the soils and crops division with the department of forestry and agriculture, is expecting a good season. 'Blueberries, partridge berries and bakeapples are already in bloom,' he said.
   berry duff: a boiled or steamed pudding with wild berries as an ingredient.
   1966 HORWOOD 19 Blueberry pudding, loaded with luscious fruit, boiled in a cloth, and popped open, fresh from the pot and dripping with purple juice, on the kitchen table. Mr Markady called it 'berry duff—a term that he had brought home from his lifetime at sea.
   berry ground: elevated, unwooded stretch of land or 'barren' producing wild berries. See also GROUND.
   1967 HORWOOD 92 Especially on the heath above the wooded valleys—on the open back country that Newfoundlanders call ... the berry-grounds—winter comes like a thief in the night. 1972 MURRAY 258 Women, picking blueberries for sale, went to the berry grounds or 'barrens' carrying perhaps two water buckets and a hoop, as for water. 1980 Evening Telegram 8 Nov, p. 6 That walk over the hills to the berry grounds was real pretty [but] we were too stunned to appreciate it.
   berry hills: see berry bank, ~ ground.
   1938 MACDERMOTT 241 When one hears the name 'Berry Hills,' the berries referred to are partridge berries,
   berry hocky: see berry ocky below.
   berry note: buyer's receipt issued to picker for quantity of berries received.
   1972 MURRAY 261 Those who sold berries were given a 'berry note' indicating the amount of berries 'shipped' and the price per gallon. The value of the note had to be 'taken up' in goods in the store where the berries were shipped.
   berry ocky: home-made drink of wild berries, esp partridge berries, or jam and water; cp OCKY.
   C 66-1 At home it was the grown-ups who used to go mummering [but] the young folks went too. We were always treated to cake, cookies and black-currant drinks, or partridge berry drinks which they used to call 'berryocky.' 1969 Christmas Mumming in Nfld 133 ~ a hot drink of berry juice, usually with rum added. Q 71-7 That's just as bitter as berryocky.

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