SUMMER MEETING. 101 



Fuller writes that Paladius, a Roman agricultural author, who flourished in 

 the fourth century, mentions the raspberry as one of the cultivated fruits of 

 his time. Mr. A. J. Downing is of the opinion that the large-fruited foreign 

 varieties are descendants of the Mount Ida bramble, and from that locality 

 were introduced into the gardens of southern Europe. It grows tall and 

 nearly erect, beset with straight, slender prickles, or many of them mere 

 bristles, leaves thicker and fruit firmer and larger than in the next : red or yel- 

 lowish, ripening throughout the summer. This species throws up suckers from 

 the roots in sufficient abundance for all practical purposes of propagation, or 

 they may be readily propagated from root cuttings. This species is too tender 

 to thrive in the cold winters of the North or hot summers of the South. 



The species of red raspberry in which we should feel the greatest interest is 

 the Rubus sirigo&us, or our common wild red raspberry which grows so readily 

 in our fallows, woods and along our roadsides. We are all familiar with its 

 general appearance. It grows from three to four feet high, the upright canes, 

 petioles, etc., being beset with copious bristles, and some of them becoming- 

 weak prickles, also glandular. Under cultivation these almost entirely disap- 

 pear. In color these canes are a light brown, being quite a contrast to the 

 purple canes of the blackcap. The leaves on the young cane are sometimes 

 five-parted, but usually we find three leaflets, as is always the case as far as I 

 know, on the old stalks. In form the leaflets are ovate-acuminate, their mar- 

 gins serrate, and beneath, the leaflets are somewhat white and downy, the lat- 

 eral ones not stalked. The petals are as long as the sepals, and as the blossom 

 grows older the sepals become reflexed, fruit light red, tender and watery, but 

 high flavored, ripening all summer. This species is also propagated by suckers 

 or by root cuttings. It highly recommends itself for careful cultivation of its 

 good qualities, which are: First. It will stand our cold northern winters. Sec- 

 ondly. It will thrive on light soils, and its tough foliage does not burn under 

 the hot sun. It thus becomes the one species of red raspberry that can be 

 raised successfully in the South. Hence we should develop from it the red 

 raspberry of the future instead of from the European species. 



The Rubus occidentaUs, our wild black raspberry or blackcap, like 

 our wild red raspberry, is also a very hardy and thrifty plant. It thrives 

 the best on burnt fallows and windfalls, growing on high or low land, 

 doing better in the wild state on the latter. It often grows from twelve 

 to fourteen feet in length, the long recurving stems, stalks, etc., armed 

 with prickles: no bristles. In color the old canes are nearly purple, while 

 the young stems are a dark green, leaflets smaller than in the red rasp- 

 berry and mostly three, ovate, pointed, white, downy, beneath, coarsely 

 double-toothed, the lateral ones stalked, thus differing again from the red 

 raspberry; petals shorter than the sepals, fruit purple black, and drupes 

 in berry very compact, ripening in mid-summer. This species is propagated 

 by root cuttings and tips. 



The Rubus villosus, or our common high blackberry, which grows so 

 readily in the wild state along thickets, fence rows, etc., is the parent of 

 all our cultivated varieties. Stems one to six feet, furrowed, light brown 

 in color and covered with strong hooked prickles ; live leaflets on the 

 young stem of the wild, while on the young cane of the cultivated often only 

 four, one of these being either cieft or parted. On the old stems of both 

 wild and cultivated plants the leaf is composed of three leaflets, ovate or 

 lance-ovate, pointed, their lower surface and stalks hairy and glandular, 

 the middle one long-stalked and usually heart-shaped, flowers racemed, 

 rather large with short bracts, fruit oblong or cylindrical. 



