326 THE EVOLUTION OP OUR NATIVE FRUITS 



large and loose, very black drupelets, and they are 

 sour even when soft, and are not aromatic. The drupe- 

 lets cling to the receptacle. In its wild state the Sand 

 blackberry produces many varieties of excellent qual- 

 ity, but the smallness of the fruits hinders their intro- 

 duction into cultivation. 



J. T. Lovett, who introduced the Topsy blackberry, 

 considers it (as he writes me) to be "a hybrid between 

 the Sand blackberry and some other species, perhaps 

 the dewberry, or probably Wilson's Early." I was 

 long inclined to accept a hybrid origin for it, but 

 having studied the Sand blackberry in the field, from 

 New Jersey to Florida, I am convinced that it is only 

 a direct variation of Rubus cuneifolius. The Topsy 

 was sent to Lovett about 1884 by a man in south 

 Jersey. It was subsequently sent out by Childs as 

 the Tree blackberry. Lovett dubbed it Topsy, because 

 it is so "wicked" with thorns.* 



Hybrids between the raspberry and blackberry have 

 been produced artificially by several persons. The 

 following are records of experiments made by E. S. 

 Carman, and printed in "The Rural New-Yorker" 

 of various dates: 



"In the summer of 1886, we applied pollen of rasp- 

 berry flowers to the stigmas of blackberry flowers, 

 and vice versa. * * * Our work was continued 

 assiduously during the entire period when blackberries 

 and raspberries were simultaneously in bloom. Some 

 twenty seeds formed on the blackberries, and perhaps 

 twice as many on the raspberries. All were planted, 

 separately, of course, in shallow boxes of mellow soil, 

 as soon as they were taken from the fruit. In many 



* For accounts of all varieties of blackberries, see Card's "Bush-Fruits." 



