THE MAYES DEWBERRY 345 



growing in many places in Texas and Louisiana. 

 People from our town were in the habit of visiting 

 this dewberry and blackberry field every spring, to 

 gather first the dewberries, and later the blackberries. 

 After Mr. Mayes came into possession of the farm, he 

 began to cultivate the land where these berries grew, 

 and discovered this berry occupying a small area of 

 not more than half an acre, or an acre at most. The 

 berries were so much finer than the other dewberries 

 growing all around it, that he decided to save them. 

 He plowed them, and found they grew firm, and so he 

 began bringing his surplus above home consumption 

 to town to sell. Their large size and earliness at- 

 tracted the attention of our Pilot Point Horticultural 

 Society, so that a member asked Mr. Mayes to bring 

 them plants one or two hundred each. Among 

 those purchasing them at this time were Mr. J. W. 

 Austin, Mr. Sam Gaines and myself. That was about 

 1888 or 1889. Since then these berries have con- 

 tinued to grow in popular favor. The name, Mayes 

 Hybrid, was suggested by myself, because the plants 

 were found growing where both the common dewberry 

 (Rubus trivialifi) and common Texas blackberry, now 

 known as the Dallas berry, were both occupying the 

 locality indiscriminately. Col. W. W. Ross, who then 

 lived here, and myself proposed to Mr. Mayes to 

 call it the Mayes Hybrid and form a company, known 

 as the Mayes Berry Company, to propagate and sell the 

 plants. I first advertised them in 'The Horticulturist' 

 as the Mayes Hybrid Blackberry." 



J. W. Austin,' of Pilot Point, Texas, also propa- 

 gated the plant, and introduced it as Austin's Im- 

 proved Dewberry. 



