BUFFALO -BERRY 407 



Buffalo -berry, particularly in the West. It is probable 

 that it will never become popular in the East, where 

 the currant, gooseberry, and other acid small fruits 

 thrive. A Dakotan writes as follows: "Deer, ante- 

 lope and elk live on buffalo -berries through the winter, 

 but the fruit is excellent for human beings. I do not 

 understand why farmers in the Dakotas and Minnesota 

 do not grow more of these berries. A tree is of more 

 benefit than an apple tree, and is a sure grower. The 

 time will come when people will say: 'Why did we 

 not sooner know about the buff alo- berry ?' The trees 

 make good hedges, and live when all other vegetation 

 dies." Although introduced to cultivation, the buffalo- 

 berry has not yet given any distinct named varieties. 

 The buffalo -berry is dkscious that is, the sexes 

 are on different plants. This means that the two 

 sexes should be known and be planted close together 

 to insure fruitfulness. Yet, the writer has a pistillate 

 bush of buffalo -berry which is two hundred feet 

 from a staminate plant, with a large building 

 between the two, and it bears well. Professor Corbett 

 makes the following remarks on the sex characters of 

 the buffalo -berry:* 



With the introduction of new fruits come new difficulties 

 to be overcome by both propagator and cultivator. In the brief 

 history of the buffalo-berry we find no exception to the rule, 

 but, on the contrary, added natural causes, which augment these 

 difficulties. The dioecious nature of the plant is not known to 

 the majority of cultivators, and, what is the more important, 

 the dealers furnishing them the stock are equally as ignorant. 

 I know of no dealer in nursery stock in the Northwest, even if 

 he is familiar with the fact that they are dioecious, who claims 



'American Gardening, xvi. 45 (Feb. 9. 1895). The pictures (Pl. 105, 106) 

 are my own. 



