THE BRAMBLE 249 



botanists, however, not chargeable with the species - 

 making mania Hooker, for instance have ad- 

 mitted seventeen varieties of the British bramble, 

 all well marked and breeding true that is, retaining 

 their characteristics in changed conditions. It all 

 means that the bramble is a plant of flexible con- 

 stitution a fact which should commend it to a 

 greater share of the attention of the horticulturist 

 than it has received in this country. For when 

 you get a plant with a plastic constitution it means 

 that it is one of those that present openings to 

 the improver. The fruit of the bramble is almost 

 universally appreciated, and it comes at a time 

 when small fruits are scarce or wholly absent. 

 Yet, strangely enough, we depend almost entirely 

 upon the wild supply, and a cultivated bramble 

 of any kind is a rarity. There is no reasonable 

 ground for doubting that if the improver took the 

 plant in hand he could, by choosing the best of 

 its natural varieties, by crossing them, and by 

 selection of the individual plants in the progeny 

 showing desirable points, greatly improve it, and 

 make of it a most desirable garden -plant. The 

 bramble has already been hybridized with the rasp, 

 the product of the union being the loganberry, 

 which is larger than the parents, but in other 

 respects not so good a fruit as either. An im- 

 proved bramble, larger in fruit, tidier of habit, 

 and carrying" more fruit in relation to its size, 

 is a much greater desideratum. In America much 

 attention has already been paid to this subject, 

 and several varieties of bramble native to the 

 North American continent have been improved, 

 and have a recognized place in the fruit-garden. 



