THE HIMALAYA BLACKBERRY. 1 



By H. P. Gould, Pomologist in Charge of Fruit District Investigations. 



INTRODUCTION. 



During the past year or two numerous inquiries regarding the 

 Himalaya blackberry have reached the Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 with special reference to claims of remarkable productiveness and a 

 very wide range of adaptability that have been made for the variety. 

 The following notes are therefore published for the information of 

 those who are interested in this plant. 



Though the Himalaya blackberry is closely related to our common 

 blackberries and dewberries its exact botanical identity does not 

 appear to have been determined. In habit of growth the plants are 

 like the dewberry in that the canes are perennial and do not die each 

 year after the fruiting period, as is the case with the common black- 

 berries and raspberries. 



The Himalaya blackberry was grown by Mr. Luther Burbank from 

 seeds received by him about 1889 or 1890 from a friend who stated 

 that they had been gathered high up on the Himalaya Mountains. 

 Mr. Burbank disseminated it on the Pacific coast about 1894 under 

 the name " Himalaya Giant,' 1 though he had listed it as " an im- 

 proved variety of Riibus sp. Himalaya" in his catalogue for 1893. 

 He advised the Bureau of Plant Industry in 1905 that he had not 

 included this variety in his general catalogue for the reason that he 

 was afraid that it would not prove hardy everywhere the catalogue 

 was sent, and so he introduced it by means of a special circular mailed 

 only to parties on the Pacific coast and in the South. 



BEHAVIOR OF THE VARIETY IN THE EAST AND SOUTH. 



Following the reported success of this berry in the Puget Sound 

 region of Washington, the Department of Agriculture in February, 

 1906, secured 200 plants of the variety for distribution, with a view 

 to determining its relative hardiness and its adaptability to culture 

 in sections east of the Rocky Mountains. The plants were obtained 

 from the Albany Nursery Co., of Albany, Oreg., their authenticity 



i Issued Mar. 8, 1913. 

 [Cir. 116] 23 



