146 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Let US consider for a moment some of the causes that have led to the 

 quite general failure of blackberry-growing, either for market or home 

 use. I do not care whether it be plants or animals, the continued breed- 

 ing or propagation from scrubs will soon cause them to part with every 

 good quality they possess; on the contrary, the only way to improve 

 and accumulate good qualities in any variety is to discard everything 

 which does not approach perfection, and select ideal specimens, keeping 

 them so restricted that the powers of reproduction (fruiting) shall con- 

 stantly be increasing. From time immemorial it has been a custom of 

 nurserymen to take an old patch and plow it in the fall, cutting the roots 

 up as much as possible, so that each year suckers would come up in the 

 greatest profusion, and then the more plants were dug the more came 

 up until the whole was a tangled mass. They were rarely or never 

 pruned, but were allowed to stand without tillage to support them dur- 

 ing the drouth, so that the strain of maturing even a small quantity of 

 berries was beyond their ability, and consequently exhaustion followed. 

 Growers took these plants and fruited them eight to ten years, until 

 run out, and then dug suckers from them and set a new patch, succes- 

 sively, until, getting only seedy, buttony fruit, they threw up the busi- 

 ness in disgust. When a blackberry cane becomes weakened from any 

 cause, it will throw up suckers until they become an intolerable nui- 

 sance, and we must never forget that in making cuttings, either tops or 

 roots of a plant, we are only dividing it, and whatever weakness it pos- 

 sesses we are carrying into the new plantation. 



When we dig a sucker plant we generally get only a few roots with it; 

 the foliage absorbs the strength of what rootage there is, and, there 

 being no callouses formed, few new roots start. Those already estab- 

 lished grow only from the end, and in this way will often go out forty 

 of fifty feet from the bush, while near the plant will be found very few 

 roots. The sap, having to pass through these long roots before it can 

 reach the foliage for assimilation, greatly aggravates the sucker nui- 

 sance, and the few berries secured are generally dry, seedy, and 

 flavorless. 



Now let me describe my ideal of what a blackberry should be, and see 

 if I can formulate a method of producing it and preserving the highest 

 fruiting vigor, and put on the market a grade of berries so delicious that 

 the demand shall always be in excess of the supply. 



First, there should be no weak nor puny bushes, but all uniformly 

 large and enriched with full blood and the strongest reproductive powers 

 of fruiting vigor. Now we can not do this by propagating from anything 

 less than perfection itself, and so we must go to the fruiting field early 

 in the spring to search for this ideal. Find the cane that is thickly 

 studded with large, well-developed buds, and examine the tips to see that 

 it has stood the winter blast without the slightest weakening, and stake 

 it, taking care to so prune it that its fruit shall be no more than it can 

 bring to perfection. Examine the stamens carefully when blossoms first 

 open, and note their size and general condition. Where stamens are 

 plenty and well charged with the vital dust (pollen), score it high and 

 give it the preference. I hold it of the utmost importance, and believe 

 I have proven by actual test, that maximum crops of berries or any 

 other kinds of fruit can not be secured where plants, trees, and bushes 

 are allowed to shed their pollen year after year without restriction until 



