THE RASPBERRY. 119 



the foreign and our native species were crossed, 

 and a new and hardier class of varieties obtained. 

 The large size and richness in flavor of the Euro- 

 pean berry has been bred into and combined with 

 our smaller and more insipid indigenous fruit. By 

 this process the area of successful raspberry cul- 

 ture has been extended almost indefinitely. 



Within recent years a third step forward has 

 been taken. Some localities and soils were so 

 unsuited to the raspberry that no variety contain- 

 ing even a small percentage of the foreign element 

 could thrive. This fact led fruit-growers to give 

 still closer attention to our native species. Wild 

 bushes were found here and there which gave fruit 

 of such good quality and in such large quantities 

 that they were deemed well worthy of cultivation. 

 Many of these wild specimens accepted cultivation 

 gratefully, and showed such marked improvement 

 that they were heralded over the land as of won- 

 derful and surpassing value. Some of these pure, 

 unmixed varieties of our native species (Rubus 

 strigosus) have obtained a wide celebrity ; as, for 

 instance, the Brandywine, Highland Hardy, and, 

 best of all, the Turner. It should be distinctly 

 understood, however, that, with the exception of 

 the last-named kind, these native varieties are de- 

 cidedly inferior to most of the foreign berries and 

 their hybrids or crosses, like the Cuthbert and 



