158 SMALL FKUIT CULTUBIST. 



seldom been attempted, because foreign kinds were at 

 hand that apparently possessed qualities superior to our 

 own ; consequently we have very few native kinds worthy 

 of cultivation. This is certainly to be regretted ; inas- 

 much as the foreign va- 

 rieties are usually ten- 

 der, while our native 

 kinds are quite hardy, 

 and there can scarcely 

 be a doubt that if the 

 same persistent efforts 

 had been put forth to 

 improve them, as have 

 been expended upon the 

 foreign sorts, we would 

 now have varieties of 

 the native species far 

 superior to any that we 

 have obtained from 

 abroad. 



The variableness of 

 the Rubus strigosus is 

 worthy of being particu-i 

 larly noticed by those 

 who may attempt its im-i 

 Fig. 68. STEM OP WLLD BED. provement. Some of the 

 wild varieties produce an immense number of suckers, 

 others but very few. Some have very smooth canes, 

 others are covered with close set spines or bristly 

 hairs, as shown in figure 68. The fruit is also variable 

 in color, from a dark red to a light bright crimson ; 

 globular or conical in shape, and of medium size. Figure 

 69 shows a fruit of about the average size when grown 

 in good soil. 



Figure 63 shows a fruit branch when coming into bloom, 

 and figure 64, a leaf, both somewhat reduced in size. The 



