NEW EOCIIELLE BLACKBERRY. 



In tte year 1834, Mr. Lewis A. Seacor, then and now residing in the village of 

 New Rochelle, found, on a farm now owned by F. Prince, Esq., a clump of Blackberry 

 bushes bearing fruit of uncommon size, which differed much in shape and appearance 

 from any he had ever seen. Four or five years afterward, having purchased alot for 

 a residence, he recollected these Blackberries, went to the field, dug up and trans- 

 planted several of them into his garden. When in due time these bushes bore fruit, 

 Mr. S. says his neighbors were greatly surprised, and, attributing the difference in size 

 and shape from the common fruit to cultivation alone, several of them supplied them- 

 selves with the common wild plants fi'om the fields, expecting to gather fruit equally 

 large as Mr. Seacor's. In this expectation they were disappointed, and after a few 

 years' trial the plants which had been so carefully cultivated were dug up and thrown 

 away as worthless. Mr, S. now supplied several of his neighbors with plants from his 

 garden, and the fruit became generally known in his vicinity. 



Seven or eight years ago, Mr. Lawton (after whom the fruit has been named) saw 

 some of these Blackberries in the garden of a neighbor, inquired where the roots were 

 obtained, &c. He bought plants of Mr. Seacor, was told by him where they were 

 found, the circumstances of their discovery, &c. In 1853, at a meeting of the Farmers' 

 Club, in the city of New York, Mr. Lawton presented a^ quantity of these Blackberries, 

 which were greatly admired. He also at that time read a paper before the Club, in 

 which he says, (I quote from a report of his remarks published in the newspapers,) "it 

 [this fruit] has been cultivated in small quantities for several years in New Rochelle, 

 where I now reside. I have not been able to ascertain who first discovered the plant 

 and brought it into garden culture, but am informed it was found on the roadside, and 

 thence introduced into the neighboring gardens." The Farmers' Club passed a vote of 

 thanks to Mr. Lawton, and named the fruit the ^^ Lawton Blackberry." The Pomo- 

 logical Convention, which assembled in Boston last year, also use the same name in 

 their hst of fruits ; so that it is likely to be perpetuated, unless the facts in the case are 

 known. Ask ^ny person in New Rochelle, acquainted with the fruit, as to its origin, 

 and you will be told Mr. Seacor was the discoverer. 



It may be well to mention that Mr. Prince, the present owner of the farm where 

 the fruit was found, in making some improvements on his land, destroyed the original 

 bushes, without knowing anything of the existence of such a fruit on his premises ; so 

 that but for Mr. Seacor's efforts, the fruit would have become extinct. 



Now, if his agency in preserving this valuable fruit has not been of a character suffi- 

 ciently meritorious to make it proper that it should bear his name, there is certainly 

 no reason why it should bear Mr. Lawton's. But* it maybe asked, "What's in a 

 name ?" to which I answer, in this case, much. By getting his name aflSxed to the 

 fruit, Mr. Lawton does not merely (to use a common phrase) "steal another man's 

 thunder," but he is placed in a situation to make a great deal of money out of it. 

 Persons, unacquainted with the above facts, wishing to obtain this Blackberry, would 

 naturally say, "Who so likely to funiish the genuine Laioton Blackberry, as Mr. Law- 

 ton himself r' And I find that for the year past he has been selling the plants at ten 

 dollars the dozen (double the price charged by Mr. Seacor); and although in the end 

 he may not win golden opinions, he is likely to win plenty of golden dollars, which 

 ps he may value more 



