FOREIGN AND NATIVE SPECIES. 229 



to such matters, raise a few seedlings of the variety, and if it 

 is a cross or hybrid, a part of the seedhngs will revert back 

 to each parent, or so near them that there will be no diffi- 

 culty in determining that there v/as a mixture of blood. If 

 all our so-called hybrid fruits were thus tested, we would 

 then know more of their true parentage." In the sunny 

 laboratory of the garden, therefore, Nature's chemistry will 

 resolve these juicy compounds back into their original 

 constituents. 



The Highland Hardy, or Native, also belongs to this 

 species, and is quite a favorite still in some localities ; but 

 it has had its day, I think. Its extreme earliness has made 

 it profitable in some regions ; but its softness, small size 

 and wretched flavor should banish it from cultivation as 

 soon as possible. 



There are others, like the Thwack, Pearl, and Bristol; 

 they are but second-rate, being inferior in most regions to 

 the Brandywine, which they resemble. 



In my opinion, the chief value of R. Strigosiis is to be 

 found in two facts. In the first place, they endure the 

 severe Northern winters, and — what is of far more conse- 

 quence — their best representatives thrive on light soils, 

 and their tough foliage does not burn under the hot sun. 

 It thus becomes the one species of red raspberry that can 

 be raised successfully in the South, and from it, as a hardy 

 stock, we should seek to develop the raspberries of the 

 future. 



