GIANT HIMALAYA 



KITTATINNY 



287 



from the dreaded blackberry-rust. The ber- 

 ries, when well grown, are extraordinary large, 

 and the quality is good when the fruit is 

 mature. Since, however, the berries remain 

 hard and sour long after turning black, picking 

 is often hurried, and this gives the fruit the 

 reputation of being poor in quality. The 

 original plant of Erie was found near Tall- 

 madge, Ohio, about 1876. It is probably a 

 seedling of the older Lawton, which it re- 

 sembles. 



Plants of moderate height, very vigorous, hardy, pro- 

 ductive, upright-spreading ; canes numerous, stocky, 

 deeply furrowed, with straight, slender prickles. Leaflets 

 palmate, large, ovate-lanceolate, pubescent on both sur- 

 faces. Flowers very large, 1% inches in diameter, 8-12, 

 borne in long, open, leafy racemes. Fruit midseason, 

 large, cylindrical, tapering irregularly, glossy black ; 

 core cylindrical, rather soft ; drupelets numerous, rather 

 small, round ; flesh soft, juicy, sweet when fully ripe, 

 rich ; quality good ; seeds of medium size, hard. 



GIANT HIMALAYA. Fig. 250. This 

 much talked about berry is probably little 

 removed from R. thyrsanthus, an inhabitant 



250. Giant Himalaya. (XI) 



of central Europe, which has found its way 

 to various parts of the world, being re- 

 christened as it was taken from place to place. 

 As advertised in the United States it is the 

 most pretentious cheat in the berry garden, 

 yet in some respects it is a remarkable addi- 

 tion to edible brambles, and therefore needs 

 consideration. The name, it should be said at 

 once, is misleading. The species probably 

 does not grow in the Himalaya Mountains, 

 although the story of its origin was that an 

 English traveler brought seed for it from the 

 Himalayas to Luther Burbank about 1898, 



from which the variety came. The variety, 

 or its counterpart, has been known in Ger- 

 many under the name Theodore Reimers. 



The plants are too tender to co!3 for northern regions. 

 In the Pacific states, Himalaya is remarkable for the 

 vigor and productiveness of the plants, but in mild 

 climates in the East, regions south of Pennsylvania, the 

 plants are very vigorous but almost barren. In all 

 regions, the plants need cross-pollination^ and even so, 

 produce many imperfect fruits. The berries at best 

 are poor in quality and uninviting in appearance. The 

 long, trailing, thorny, evergreen canes are almost un- 

 manageable on trellis or stake. The value of the plant 

 seems to lie in the possibilities it furnishes for hybridiza- 

 tion. The several hybrids now known, of which it is one 

 parent, promise much. Vigor and productiveness of 

 plant are the characters for which it should be used in 

 hybridization. 



HAUPT. Texas has enriched pomology 

 with several notable blackberry-dewberry 

 crosses. Among these is Haupt, a name to be 

 found rather commonly in lists of brambles 

 for the Southwest, which seems to stand for 

 three or four distinct crosses between the 

 blackberry and the dewberry. Catalogs offer- 

 ing Haupt speak of fruit and plant in superla- 

 tive terms, but until the several types are 

 segregated, berry-growers cannot know what 

 they are buying. The original plant, or pos- 

 sibly plants, came from W. W. Haupt, Kyle, 

 Texas, about 1898. 



ICEBERG. One of the few white black- 

 berries worth trying, Iceberg is little more 

 than a curiosity in the East, but has some 

 value in California as a fruit for home use. 

 At Geneva, New York, the plants must be 

 protected against winter-killing. The variety 

 originated with Luther Burbank about 1895; 

 according to whom it is a third generation 

 descendant from a cross between Lawton and 

 White Crystal. The plant is described as 

 much like that of Lawton, while the berries 

 in California are said to be large, amber- 

 white, soft, and of very good quality. 



JORDAN. Jordan is offered by several 

 nurserymen in Texas, where the variety seems 

 to find considerable favor. Outside of Texas 

 it seems to be grown but little. The follow- 

 ing description is made from plants on the 

 grounds of the New York Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station. Jordan originated with 

 James Nimon, Denison, Texas, about 1895. 



Plants drooping or semi-trailing, moderately vigorous 

 and productive, half-hardy. Leaflets 5, palmate, oval, 

 coarsely and unevenly serrate, in a double series. Flow- 

 ers large, 1% inches in diameter, 5-8, in long, open, 

 leafy corymbs. Fruit midseason, large, glossy black, 

 oblate, exceedingly variable in size and shape ; core 

 hard, conical, rather short, white ; drupelets large, 

 round ; flesh rather soft, sweet but sprightly ; quality 

 good ; seeds medium in size, hard. 



KITTATINNY. One of the first good 

 blackberries, Kittatinny has an unbroken 

 record of more than a half century as a 

 standard commercial blackberry in the United 

 States from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Pos- 

 sibly no variety has been or is more widely 

 and largely grown. It equals the best repre- 

 sentatives of its kind in quality of fruit, and 



