26 CIRCULAK NO. 116, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



It will be noted that the statements quoted are generally adverse 

 to this fruit. The one marked exception is the report from Homeland, 

 Ga., which represents it as successful. This report, however, was 

 very brief and gave no information regarding the general behavior 

 of the plants, nor is it apparent what standards of comparison were 



used. 



Prior to the distribution of the Himalaya blackberry by the De- 

 partment of Agriculture in 1906, it had been tested in Texas. In 

 February, 1906, Mr. F. T. Ramsey, proprietor of the Austin Nursery, 

 Austin, Tex., wrote to this Department as follows: 



I bought some plants of this at 50 cents or $1.50 apiece * * * when * * * 

 first introduced * * *. and I now have a row of them 200 yards long. 5 feet 

 deep and about 20 feet broad. We can not get at the roots of them to cut them 

 off; they would turn a mad bull or a scared cat. Before they bore for me much 

 I sold a few plants, but I have apologized to all who bought them and gave 

 them something else. They are not a success in this atmosphere. They ripen 

 here entirely after the latest blackberry and are very small. 



It may be further stated that this berry was planted in 1908 in the 

 fruit garden at the. dry-land field station which is maintained by this 

 Department at Akron, Colo. While the canes have killed back con- 

 siderably nearly every winter, it is by far the most vigorous of any 

 of the brambles planted at that station. It makes a strong, healthy 

 growth and appears to be drought resistant in a marked degree. 

 However, it is absolutely worthless so far as the fruit is concerned. 

 It produces only a few scattering fruits that are the merest "nub- 

 bins" in size and form and which ripen over a long period. The 

 quality is so inferior as to make the fruit almost inedible. 



In explanation of the conflicting results which have been claimed 

 for this berry from time to time the statement has become more or less 

 current that there are " three different varieties of Himalayas,'' two of 

 which are not hardy except on the Pacific coast and the fruit of which 

 is inferior. The inference is that the third variety is the one on 

 which the claims for great productiveness, high quality, and wide 

 range of adaptability are based. But the authority for the statement 

 that three varieties have been disseminated under this name appears 

 to be generally unknown, and the statement lacks confirmation. 



While this berry appears to be well adapted to the Puget Sound 

 region in Washington and is of commercial importance in portions of 

 California and elsewhere on the Pacific coast, its general usefulness 

 and adaptability to conditions in a large portion of the country east 

 of the Rocky Mountains, as indicated by the reports received, are 

 evidently very restricted. This is not due to insufficient hardiness so 

 much as to nonproductiveness and to the inferiority of the fruit. 



[Cir. 116] 



