234 LUTHER BURBANK 



Greece. Like other cultivated plants, it tends 

 to vary, and it is said that more than twenty 

 varieties were under cultivation in England a 

 century ago. 



The American colonists introduced this favor- 

 ite European berry at an early date, but it did 

 not find a congenial environment in the new 

 country. The long, cold winters of the Northern 

 States, and the dry heat of the Southern summers 

 were alike hostile to it; and its lack of hardiness 

 denied it general recognition except as an occa- 

 sional garden plant. 



But the new continent possessed many wild 

 raspberries that were of course adapted to the 

 environment, and in time these came under cul- 

 tivation. Their introduction, however, was so 

 gradual that it was quite unnoticed. The only 

 raspberry cultivated extensively for the New 

 York market early in the nineteenth century was 

 known as the English Red. It is believed to have 

 been an offspring of a native berry, known as 

 Rubus neglectus (itself believed to be an acci- 

 dental hybrid of our wild red and black rasp- 

 berries), but this was not generally known, and 

 the name given the fruit suggests that it was 

 supposed to be of European origin. 



During the latter half of the nineteenth cen- 

 tury many improved red and yellow raspberries 



