Rubusoccidentalis, Linn. (Blackcap, Thimbleberry Of Some)

Fig. 4, p. 723. Stems long and at maturity recurved and rooting at the tips, conspicuously glaucous, armed with stiff, hooked prickles; inflorescence densely cymose, the peduncles all aggregated or rarely one or two somewhat remote, short and stiff, simple and erect, bearing stiff prickles and sometimes also straight bristles; petals shorter than the sepals ; fruit depressed, firm and dense, black. Fig. 4 is an excellent illustration of the fruit cluster of Rubus occidentalis. Here belong the Gregg, Hilborn, Ada, and others.

Fir. 5. Rubus neglectus.

There are still a number of garden varieties which do not fall under either of the above species, but which may be separated as.

Rubus Neglectus, Peck

(22nd Rep. Reg. N. Y. State Univ. 53, 1869). Figs. 5 and 6, pp. 721 and 723. Habit various, but the stems in typical forms long and rooting from the tip ; stems glaucous, usually more or less armed with prickles, often bristly also; inflorescence race-mose-cymose, the peduncles short and usually prickly, mostly stiff, the upper ones erect or ascending, simple or nearly so above but unequally branched below, some of them aggregated above; fruit varying from purple-black to bright purple or even yellowish. Among cultivated sorts, the Shaffer (Fig. 5) may be considered the type of the species. A glance will show the aggregated character of the fruit cluster at its apex and the gradual tailing out of the cluster at the base.

The unequal branching of the lower peduncles is not well represented in this specimen, although it is apparent. This unequal branching is seen both in the lengths and ages of the branches. The lowest branches of the cluster are apt to be imperfect. These imperfect lower berries are well shown in Fig. 6, and also in the cut of the Gladstone, page 564, September issue. There are all gradations from the heavy-topped cluster of the Shaffer to that of the Caroline (Fig. 6), in which the upper fruits are only approximate ; but even in the Caroline the inequality in age of branches of the peduncles is well marked, and other characters place this variety in Rubus neglectus. The garden varieties, in my herbarium, which are referable to this species are Shaffer, Caroline, Gladstone, Philadelphia, Reliance, and probably Crystal White. In a wild state, the species occurs here at Ithaca, and I have collected it at Lansing, Michigan. It is probably generally distributed throughout the northeastern states.

It has been said that Rubus neglectus is a hybrid between R. strigosus and R. occidentalis, and its intermediate and inconstant characters seem to warrant this disposition of it. But a hybrid origin is not proved, and I am glad that its features have been definitely described before its origin is determined, as it enables us to draw discriminating characters in one of the most confused groups of our fruits. There is no question but that the red and black raspberries will cross. We have made a number of hand pollinations this year, and if I am suc-cessful in growing a hundred or two bus neglectus.

A. S. Fuller, in appears to have 1 rate the Rubus neg.

He calls them the< acterizes them as follows: "The principal difference between the varieties of the black cap and purple cane i s in the fruit. The first, as is well known, has a rather dry, tough fruit, with a peculiar flavor. Its grains are numerous and very irregular in size. The fruit of purple cane, as a rule, is rather soft, juicy, often very brittle, the grains separating very readily ; color varying from light red to dark brownish-purple, but never black ; the flavor mild and agreeable, but entirely distinct from those of the true black raspberry." I do not know if all the varieties which Mr. Fuller refers to his purple canes are Rubus neglectus, but some of them surely are. I think that some of the sorts which have been referred to Rubus Idaus belong to it, and I am convinced that it is the most important type of raspberry known. From pure Rubus strigosus we appear to have obtained fewer varieties than is commonly supposed ; Cuthbert appears to me to be the first decided advance in this species.

Both the blackberry and raspberry have come into prominence during the present generation, and even the introduction of the native species appears to run back no farther than 60 or 70 years. Neither the blackberry nor the raspberry was mentioned by Thatcher in 1825. Kenrick, in 1833, speaks of the blackberry as worthy of cultivation, and says that plants were then occasionally transplanted to gardens. Speaking of the wild "bush blackberry," he says: "This plant thrives in a rich moist sandy loam, and is often cultivated in gardens, where its fruit is much improved in size and its crops very abundant." " It is singular that a fruit so productive as the tall blackberry should be so little cultivated." He also speaks of the "trailing blackberry" and the " white-fruited bramble." The New Rochelle (or Law-ton) and the Dorchester were among the first sorts introduced to cultivation. The Dorchester was first brought to notice in 1841, before the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

"The first thing we find to notice in the exhibitions of 1841," runsthe account in the history of the society, "is the high bush blackberry cultivated by Eliphalet Thayer in his garden, where it attracted much attention from i t s large and beautiful appearance." It was about 1850 that the variety was introduced into cultivation under a name. In 1857 "the Lawton blackberry was exhibited and carefully tested i n comparison with t h e Dorchester (as the improved high bush was now called), the opinion being unanimously in favor of the latter." It may be said that the blackberry began to attract attention as a cultivated fruit between 1850 and 1860.

It is more difficult to determine the early history of the native raspberries, as they are not always distinguished from the European varieties in the early accounts. Kenrick, 1833, does not consider the native sorts worth a special rating. He dismisses them with this sentence : " There are two American varieties, quite distinct from the above, which may deserve to be enumerated ; these are Black American raspberry and White American raspberry." Selected wild varieties began to be freely introduced about 1860.

Some of our older pomologists should give us their recollections. L. H. Bailey.

Fig. 6. Caroline Raspberry - Rubus neglectus.

Fig. 2. Early Harvest Blackberry - Rubus vilLOSUS, VAR. frondosus.

Kanakwmi ; From a Photograph taken in the Gardens of the Emperor of Japan.

Three-fifths natural size ; petals measured 16 inches from lip to tip.