RASPBERRY BREEDING IN NEW YORK 
HE breeding of raspberries at the 
| Geneva, New York, state agri- 
cultural experient station was 
begun nearly a quarter of a 
century ago. At first. the work was 
largely confined to the red raspberry 
and a number of excellent seedlings 
were secured from various combina- 
tions of Marlboro, Loudoun and Super- 
lative. Since 1910, greater attention 
was paid to the black-cap and purple 
raspberries. About 3,300 seedlings were 
tested. 
It was to set at rest any doubts which 
might remain as to the hybrid origin of 
the purple raspberry, Peck’s Rubus 
neglectus, and to secure better varieties 
of this popular sort, that the breeding 
of purple raspberries was undertaken. 
The work has shown beyond a doubt 
that these originated as hybrids of 
the black-cap and red raspberry. Some 
very promising seedlings have been 
secured. 
Pure seedlings of Columbian and F, 
hybrid, failed to break up as much as 
would be expected. None showed any 
tendency to propagate by suckers nor 
did any have fruit of the color of either 
parent. In cane color and glaucous- 
ness some of the seedlings more nearly 
approached the parent types. 
Hybrid seedlings were produced by 
crossing two black-caps with a red 
raspberry. With one cross the seedlings 
were all purple; among the 289 seedlings 
of the other cross were ten yellows. 
None progated by suckers. 
A study of the inheritance of color 
of fruit would indicate that several of 
our black raspberries are heterozygous 
for color and that probably several 
color factors are present. The same 
thing holds withthe red raspberry though 
the higher number of yellows would 
indicate fewer color factors. Selfed 
seedlings of Columbian gave one yellow, 
one black and forty that were probably 
varying degrees of purple. A black- 
cap which was pure for color produced 
only purples when crossed with a red 
containing a factor for yellow, but when 
both were heterozygous yellow hybrids 
were produced. 
Glaucousness, the presence of bloom 
on the canes, is probably a dominant 
character. Both the Columbian seed- 
lings and the F; hybrids gave glaucous 
and non-glaucous bushes in a ratio 
very nearly three to one. 
The F, hybrids could also be separated 
in the ratio of three with rough bark 
to one with smooth bark. 
Three of the Columbian seedlings 
produced some unusual abnormalities 
in the flower clusters. There were 
many gradations from perfect fruits to 
those in which the drupelets were 
replaced by small, sepal-like leaves. 
In other clusters the fruits varied from 
perfect to entirely sterile forms which 
did not have the leafy growth. 
All the purple raspberries having 
Smith No. 1 as the female parent were 
standard plants but nearly one-third of 
the Cumberland seedlings were dwarfs. 
The factor for. dwarfing is evidently 
one of rather rare occurrence. 
From a correlation which was found 
between leaf coloration and fruit it 
would seem that it is entirely possible 
to tell all yellow raspberries from either 
the red or purple sorts by the absence 
of any tinge of red on the leaves. It 
is probably true also that the bark of 
the young canes of the yellow varieties 
is entirely lacking in any touch of red 
or purple color. 
The Herbert red raspberry and the 
Blowers blackberry were pollinated by 
the flowering raspberry, Rubus odoratus. 
The Blowers seedlings were lacking in 
vigor and all died the first year. The 
Herbert seedlings made a strong growth 
and in 1915 blossomed freely. A study 
of these leaves no doubt as to their 
hybrid origin. In Rubus odoratus we 
may have a go-between through which 
we may mix the blood of several of our 
species. This work of hybridization 
will be continued with many other 
species, of which there are now nearly 
fifty growing on the station grounds. 
—Summary of Bul. No. 417, ‘Some 
Notes on the Breeding of Raspberries,”’ 
by R. D. Anthony, under the direction 
of U. P. Hedrick, March, 1916. 
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