336 THE SMALL FRUITS OF NEW YORK 



This variety is supposed to be a hybrid between Houghton and Red Warrington. 

 It originated with William Saunders/ London, Ontario, about 1876, and was named and 

 introduced by George S. Josselyn, Fredonia, New York, about 1890. The sort was named 

 Red Jacket without knowledge of another Red Jacket of English origin. Latterly most 

 published information concerning the variety appears under the name Josselyn, although 

 the sort is still known as Red Jacket. The American Pomological Society first listed the 

 variety in its fruit catalog in 1897. Plants large, vigorous, spreading, practically free from 

 mildew, productive; fruit medium in size, roundish oval, reddish green, becoming pale red; 

 skin smooth; rich, juicy, fragrant, sweet; very good to best; early. 



Keen Seedling, i. Lindley Guide Orch. Card. 179. 183 1. 2. N. Y. Sta. Bui 114:26. 

 1897. 

 Station plants moderately vigorous, slightly drooping, productive; fruit of medium 

 size, roundish oblong; skin thin, red, hairy; aromatic; good. 



Keepsake, i. Card. Chron. 612. 1843. 2. Hogg Fruit Man. 132. 1866. 



Among the good European sorts in the Station plantation is Keepsake. The plants 

 are large, vigorous and productive, fairly free from mildew and other diseases, and compara- 

 tively easily propagated, which is a great asset in this country with European gooseberries. 

 A fault is that the fruits are variable in size and not particularly handsome in appearance. 

 But the quality is excellent and the fruit ripens early so that, all in all, the product is well 

 worth having, and the variety is one of the few European gooseberries that can be recom- 

 mended for American conditions. Keepsake apparently originated in England early in 



' William Saunders, great Canadian horticulturist, entomologist, and a leader in experimental work in 

 agriculture in the Dominion of Canada, was bom in England in 1835 and died in London, Ontario, September 

 13, 1914. His name will be found in The Small Fruits of Ne-iV York as a breeder of raspberries, gooseber- 

 ries, and currants more often than that of any other man. On his fruit farm, near London, Ontario, 

 Saunders worked for many years hybridizing small fruits, grapes, and <ipples, besides which he did much in 

 improving Canadian cereals. Saunders started his professional career as a chemist and druggist, but 

 found time for work in the avocations of botany, entomology, horticulture, and plant breeding. He was 

 one of the founders of the Entomological Society of Ontario, and for thirteen years was editor of the Cana- 

 dian Entomologist. He is the author of Insects Injurious to Fruits, long regarded on this side of the Atlantic 

 as about the best book on economic entomology for fruit growers. In 1886 he became director of the 

 Dominion Experimental Farms at Ottawa, where for a quarter of a century he labored unremittingly in 

 science and administrative work to build up the splendid chain of agricultural stations which now stretch 

 in the provinces of Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Space does not offer to give details of his 

 work with all the fruits; mention can be made only of his most meritorious small fruits. Perhaps he did 

 most with black currants, of which Magnus, CUpper, Climax, and Eagle are best known. He crossed the 

 gooseberry with the black currant, thereby producing an interesting but sterile hj'brid. In his work with 

 raspberries he made many crosses between red and black sorts. Sarah is about the best cf these. Two 

 red varieties, Brighton and Count, have been grown more or less. Several of the gooseberries originated 

 by Saunders as Pearl and Josselyn, are now commonly grown in gooseberry regions. Perhaps his most 

 noteworthy work in breeding fruits was with hardy apples for the cold Canadian Northwest, using the com- 

 mon crab and Russian and American apples as parents. His Marquis wheat proved to be one of the best 

 varieties for the Northwest, and added millions of dollars to the farm crops in the Par West. He was, all 

 in all, Canada's greatest pomologist, plant breeder, and worker in agriculture, and stands out as a foremost 

 man in several fields of agriculture on this side of the Atlantic. 



