316 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 



native or foreign, wild or cultivated, ever grew near the orig- 

 inal plant, except, perhaps, the thimbleberry (7?ubus purpurea 

 V. odorata) which, from the dissimilarity of the two, could 

 have had nothing to do with its production. 



This bountiful gift of nature originated in the grave-yard 

 of the little (Quaker Meeting House in the village of Catta- 

 Avissa, Columbia Co., Penn., situated near the confluence of a 

 stream of the same name with that noble river, the Susque- 

 hanna. The history of its discovery is simply as follows. 

 The person who had charge of the Meeting House, from 

 whose own lips I received the account, was in the habit of 

 mowing the grass in the yard several times in the course of 

 the year, and on one occasion, some eight or ten years since, 

 observed that a brier, which he had so often clipped with his 

 scythe, showed symptoms of bearing fruit out of the ordinary 

 season. For this time he spared the plant, bestowing upon 

 it his watchful care, and afterwards removed it to his own 

 humble cottage, to be fostered and cherished, no more to 

 "waste its sweetness on the desert air." From a plant that 

 found its way to this district I was struck with its peculiari- 

 ties and resolved to devote myself to its cultivation and in- 

 crease, and am now prepared to describe its properties as far 

 as my opportunities have allowed, after experimenting with 

 it for two years. 



The fruit is of medium size, inferior to many of the new 

 popular varieties, but is sufficiently large for all economical 

 purposes. Its color is a dark reddish purple when ripe, and of 

 a very high flavor ; it bears most abundantly throughout the 

 season, after the young wood, on which it produces its best 

 fruit, attains the height of four to five feet ; usually begin- 

 ning to ripen in August and sometimes a little sooner. The 

 fruit is produced on branches continually pushing out from 

 all parts, successively appearing in the various stages of 

 growth, from blossom to perfect maturity, and often there 

 may be counted more than fifty fruits on a single branch. As 

 the ripening progresses the later fruits of each branch gradu- 

 ally become less in size, but there is no suspension of bloom- 



