286 



DALLAS 



ERIE 



mercial variety. Nevertheless, many nursery- 

 men offer it and report it successful in parts 

 of North America. It originated with H. W. 

 Blowers, Westfield, New York, about 1888. 



Plants tall, very vigorous, not hardy, productive ; canes 

 moderately numerous, stocky, furrowed, reddish-brown, 

 with numerous strong, straight prickles. Flowers 1% 

 inches in diameter, 8-10 in open, short, leafy clusters. 

 Fruit midseason, ripening over a very long period, 1 

 inch long, rather narrow, tapering, variable in size, 

 glossy black ; core soft, conical ; drupelets large, variable 

 in size, round ; flesh soft, sweet, mild ; quality good ; 

 seeds rather large. 



DALLAS. Dallas is supposed to be a 

 blackberry-dewberry hybrid, although at 

 Geneva, New York, it shows little if any dew- 

 berry parentage. The variety has little to 

 recommend it for the North, but seems to 

 find favor in Texas and Oklahoma. It is a 

 native of Texas, but where or when it origi- 

 nated cannot be learned. 



Plants very vigorous, drooping, half-hardy, productive ; 

 canes long, with numerous sharp spines. Leaflets 5, 

 palmate, coarsely and deeply serrate. Flowers very 

 large, 2 inches in diameter, 5-7, in long, open, leafy, 

 prickly corymbs. Fruit early midseason, large, almost 

 hemispherical ; flesh firm, juicy, sweet ; quality very 

 good. 



DORCHESTER. Improved High Bush. 

 Although introduced in 1850, this variety 

 is still catalogued by a few nurserymen, and 

 finds favor in scattered localities, mostly in 

 New England. It is usually named as the 

 first variety to have been cultivated. It 

 might well be grown in competition with the 

 many newer kinds, were the vines hardier and 

 more productive. The fruit is excellent. Dor- 

 chester was first brought to notice at the Mas- 

 sachusetts Horticultural Society in 1841 by 

 Eliphalet Thayer, Dorchester, Massachusetts. 



Plants vigorous, upright, stocky, rather tender to 

 cold, moderately productive, with numerous strong 

 prickles. Fruit early, of medium size, glossy black, 

 elongated ; flesh rather soft, sweet, rich ; quality good. 



EARLY HARVEST. Fig. 249. One of the 

 earliest blackberries to ripen its crop, Early 

 Harvest is valuable only for this reason. In the 

 North, the plants are often winter-killed, and 

 in the South, where they are very productive 

 and ripen the crop extra early, they are sus- 

 ceptible to rust. The variety is prized in 

 parts of California. The original plant was 

 found growing wild in Illinois some time 

 previous to 1880. 



Plants moderately vigorous and productive, winter- 

 kill in the North ; canes long, numerous, deeply fur- 

 rowed, with strong, straight prickles. Leaflets 3-5, 

 palmate, ovate-lanceolate, deeply and sometimes doubly 

 serrate. Flowers 1^ inches in diameter, 8-10, in long, 

 open racemes. Fruit early, ripening over a long season, 

 medium in size, conical, glossy black ; drupelets round, 

 numerous, rather small ; flesh tender, sweet ; quality 

 good ; core soft, white ; seeds small, hard. 



EARLY KING. Early King ripens a week 

 later than Early Harvest, being the second 

 earliest blackberry. The plants lack in hardi- 

 ness, and, like all early blackberries, are not 

 very productive; to which may be added a 



third fault, susceptibility to blackberry-rust. 

 The variety is worth growing only in mild 

 eastern climates. 



Plants low, vigorous, half-hardy, moderately productive 

 prickles long and numerous, susceptible to rust. Fruit 

 early, with a short season, medium size, glossy black 

 oblong-hemispherical, irregular, ripe as soon as black-' 

 flesh soft, very sweet ; quality good. 



249. Early Harvest. (XD 



ELDORADO. For many years Eldorado 

 was the first main-crop variety to ripen; it 

 has, with other notable virtues, great hardi- 

 ness and freedom from the blackberry-rust 

 in the plant, and handsome appearance and 

 exceptionally high quality in the fruit. Al- 

 though an old sort, it is still much prized 

 for home and market east of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains, and in this great region fails only in the 

 far South. The variety originated as an acci- 

 dental seedling in Preble County, Ohio, about 

 1880. 



Plants tall, vigorous, very hardy, productive, healthy ; 

 canes numerous, with many large prickles. Flowers l 1 /^ 

 inches in diameter, 10-12, in long, open, very spiny 

 racemes. Fruit early midseason, ripening period very 

 long, elongated-hemispherical, jet black ; drupelets large, 

 round, few ; core soft, white, conical ; flesh firm, juicy, 

 sweet, rich ; quality very good ; seeds small. 



ERIE. Uncle Tom. With several charac- 

 ters to recommend it, Erie has been long 

 under general cultivation. The plants are 

 very vigorous, hardy, productive, and free 



