196 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



RASPBERRY NOTES. 

 The Rural New Yorker gives the re- 

 sults of some observations made at the 

 Rural Experiment Grounds upon the 

 time of ripening, and the quality of 

 the Hansell, Superb and Marlboro' rasp- 

 berries. There the Hansell was the first 

 to ripen of any variety in the grounds. 

 This was not the case in the grounds 

 of your Editor, ripe berries were gath- 

 ered from Highland Hardy before Han- 

 sell was ripe. The Rural adds, that 

 Hansell has not been very prolific, and 

 the growth of the canes is less vigorous 

 than that of either Superb or Marlboro'. 

 This corresponds with the writer's ex- 

 perience this year ; indeed the Hansell 

 seems to be a poor grower and a poor 

 cropper, judging from the experience of 

 this season. Nor is there any superi- 

 ority in the quality of the Hansell to 

 atone for its defects in vigor and pro- 

 ductiveness. Mr. P. C. Dempsey, of 

 Trenton, Ont., stated last year (see 

 Fruit Growers' Association report for 

 1883, page 140), that he was disap- 

 pointed in the Hansell, that he was 

 able to gather iii a patch of wild i-asp. 

 berries as good Hansel Is as from the 

 plants in his garden, being unable to 

 see any difference either in appearance, 

 quality or time of ripening. 



THE SUPERB 



is stated by the Rural Neio Yorker to 

 have ripened soon after the Hansell, 

 but not quite as early as the Marlboro'. 

 The berries, the Rural adds, are often 

 imperfect, the drupes pulling apart 

 easily ; the later berries are all imper- 

 fect, and the drupes of unequal size; 

 the color dark, and the quality acid 



without the i-ich raspberry flavor which 

 some acid berries possess. This is very 

 nearly the experience of your Editor 

 with this variety. He found the berries 

 that fii\st ripened to be very imperfect, 

 crumbling apart on being gathered ; 

 those ripening later were more perfectly 

 formed, of better size, and some of them 

 could be gathered whole. But they 

 are very sour and thin flavored at best, 

 and too dark in color to be popular in 

 market. 



On looking into the i-eport of the 

 American Pomological Society for 1883 

 we find that J. T. Lovett, of New 

 Jersey, and C. A. Green, of New York, 

 both say that the berries of the Superb 

 crumble badly. 



THE MARLBORO', 



says the Rural Neiv Yorker, " is valua- 

 ble for fruitfulness ; for the large size 

 and firmness of the berries, and for 

 vigor of plant." The writer has not 

 fruited this variety, and consequently 

 is unable to speak of its qualities. In 

 the American Pomological Society's re- 

 port for 1883, page 52, C. A. Green is 

 reported as saying that the fruit is 

 large, bi'ight red, firm, of good quality, 

 and ripens very early ; and that the 

 plant is a vigorous grower and heavy 

 yielder. Also, J. H. Hale, of Connec- 

 ticut, is stated as saying that it is a 

 strong, vigorous plant, and that the 

 fruit is of largest size, bright color and 

 very firm, ripening extremely early. 

 He considers the flavor much like that 

 of the Brandywine. 



Shaffer's colossal 

 is reported by the Rural Neiv Yorker 

 as beginning to I'ipen Julj' 5th, the 



