IHE SMALL FRUITS OF NEW YORK 237 



have them at their best they must be permitted to become fully mature before picking. 

 Unfortunately several other varieties are commonly substituted by nurserymen for Lucre- 

 tia, so that many growers who think they have it do not have it. The American Pomologi- 

 cal Society added Lucre tia to its list of recommended fruits in 1889. (For a fuller dis- 

 cussion of Lucretia, see page 197.) 



Plants vigorous, trailing, require protection in the winter, almost immune to orange- 

 rust, susceptible to anthracnose and double-blossom especially in the South, very produc- 

 tive; canes slender, cylindrical, long, numerous, dull green mingled with brown, pubescent, 

 eglandular; prickles small, slender, ntimerous, greenish; leaflets 3-5, sometimes 7, small, 

 oval, dull, attractive, dark green, smooth, pubescent, with dentate margins; petiole slender. 

 Flowers early, self-fertile, large, few, in short, open, leafy, prickly clusters ; petals white, 

 oblong; pedicels very long, slender, eglandular; calyx eglandular. Fruit early; large 

 although variable in size, long-cylindrical, tapering slightly, jet black; drupelets large, 

 round, with good coherence; core soft; flesh juicy, firm, pleasantly sprightly when fully 

 ripe, otherwise rather tart, rich; quality very good. 



Lucretia Sister, i. Bailey Ev. Nat. Fruits 344. 1898. 



Introduced by J. B. Tweedway, Brandt, Ohio, about 1886; apparently without value 

 as compared with Lucretia. 



Mahdi. i. Rural N. 7.59:626. 1900. 2. Veitch & Sons Ca/. 64, fig. 1902. 3. Bun- 

 yard-Thomas Fr. Card. 31. 1904. 4. U. S. D. A. Farmers' Bui. 998:23. 1918. 

 5. Hedrick Cyc. Hardy Fr. 291, fig. 257. 1922. 



This hybrid between a blackberry and a raspberry proves to be little more than a 

 curiosity in most situations. Both plants and fruits are interesting to a student of brambles, 

 and therefore a full description of them is given. The plants might well pass in even com- 

 mercial plantations for they are vigorous, healthy and very productive, but the fruits are 

 far below the mark for any purpose. They are exceedingly variable in size and shape; do 

 not detach readily from the torus; the drupelets are large and coarse; and the quality is 

 none too good. It is interesting to note that the variety is best propagated by tips, partak- 

 ing of its raspberry parent in this respect. Mahdi is presumably a cross between the Belle 

 de Fontenay raspberry and the common blackberry. Some pomologists have thought 

 it to be a cross between loganberry and a raspberry. 



Plants very vigorous, semi-prostrate, drooping or trailing, not very hardy, productive, 

 healthy; propagated by tips; canes very prickly, rather numerous, unusually stocky, very 

 long, cylindrical, brown mingled with gray becoming dark red, dull, glabrous; prickles very 

 numerous, tinged red ; leaflets 3 , oval, luxuriant dark green, glossy, slightly rugose and pubes- 

 cent, with serrate margins; petiole short. Flowers late, season unusually long, small, 

 light pink, few to medium, in short, rather dense, leafy, prickly clusters often springing 

 from the axis of the leaves, the larger ones terminal; pedicels short. Fruit very late, season 

 very long ; berries thickly clustered towards the extremities of the branches and branchlets 

 in all stages of development from blossoms to mature fruit, quite variable in size and shape, 

 usually roundish or roundish conic, dark, dull, purple, cling tenaciously to the torus; drupe- 

 lets large, coarse, elliptical to roundish, with weak coherence making the berries chimble; 

 flesh moderately juicy, tender, pleasantly sprightly; quality fair to good. 



