LAWTON 



RATHBUN 



therefore holds a welcome place in all home 

 plantations. Two faults mar an otherwise 

 excellent variety; the plants are not hardy in 

 cold climates, and are very susceptible to rust 

 where that disease is rife. Kittatinny comes 

 from the mountains of the same name in New 

 Jersey, and was introduced by E. Williams 

 about 1865. 



Plants tall, vigorous, upright-spreading, productive, 

 half-hardy ; canes numerous, stocky, furrowed, reddish- 

 brown, with long, strong, straight prickles. Leaflets 

 large, oblong-lanceolate, pubescent above and beneath. 

 Flowers 1>4 inches in diameter, 6-8, in rather short, 

 open, leafy racemes. Fruit early midseason, medium 

 size, oblong, variable in size and shape, jet black ; 

 core cylindrical, soft ; drupelets large, round ; flesh 

 sweet, rich ; quality very good ; seeds small, soft. 



LAWTON. New Rochelle. Lawton played 

 an important part in the early history of 

 cultivated blackberries in America, and was 

 the second variety of this fruit introduced. 

 It is still grown rather widely on the Pacific 

 slope and somewhat in the East, being es- 

 pecially well liked for canning. It has lost 

 commercial importance in the East, however, 

 because the plants do not withstand cold well 

 and are susceptible to rust. The fruit is not 

 ripe until jet black, when the quality is of the 

 best; picked top soon, as it often is, the berry 

 is sour and bitter. Lawton was introduced 

 by William Lawton, New Rochelle, New York, 

 about 1848. 



Plants stocky, vigorous, productive, tender to cold, 

 susceptible to rust, with numerous large prickles. Fruit 

 late midseason, large, jet black, becoming bronzed when 

 over-ripe ; core large and rather hard ; flesh soft, sweet, 

 rich ; quality very good. 



McDONALD. Fig. 251. McDonald is a 

 blackberry-dewberry hybrid much grown in 

 Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and other parts 

 of the Southwest. The plants are said to be 

 very vigorous, remarkably productive, wholly 

 immune to rust, better able to withstand drouth 



251. McDonald. (XD 



than most other brambles, and to ripen their 

 crop two weeks before the earliest blackberry. 

 The canes trail the first season, but send up 

 strong, drooping canes in succeeding years. 

 To offset this list of virtues, a serious fault 

 must be named: the variety is self-sterile 

 and must be inter-planted with another black- 

 berry for a pollenizer. The berries are de- 

 scribed as large, oblong, very good in quality, 



and as hanging in good condition on the 

 vines for three or four days after ripening. 

 From the accounts of all pomologists in the 

 Southwest, McDonald seems to be a valuable 

 acquisition. The origin of the variety seems 

 not to be definite, but it came into prominence 

 in the Southwest about 1912. 



MAMMOTH. Lowberry. Black Logan- 

 berry. This is another blackberry-dewberry 

 hybrid usually listed with blackberries. The 

 parents are said to be Early Texas, a black- 

 berry from Texas much grown in California, 

 and the western dewberry, R. vitijolius. Mam- 

 moth thrives only on the Pacific slope, being 

 too tender to cold for the East. The variety 

 is remarkable for its enormous berries and 

 its long, trailing vines, which sometimes at- 

 tain a length of twenty-five or thirty feet. 

 The canes are stout and covered with small, 

 short spines; they grow upright several feet 

 and then begin to trail. Eventually the tips 

 take root; tipping is the method of propaga- 

 tion. The leaves are semi-evergreen in Cali- 

 fornia. The berries, while somewhat soft for 

 distant shipment, are excellent for local 

 markets and home use, being of high quality 

 when fully ripe. Mammoth is much grown 

 in California. The blossoms are self-sterile 

 and the loganberry makes a good pollenizer. 



Two other varieties very similar to Mammoth are 

 being offered by nurserymen under the names Tribble 

 and Cory. The canes of the latter are said to be 

 thornless. Neither has been grown long enough to give 

 sufficient opportunity to judge their merits. The 

 variety came from a seedling grown by J. H. Logan 

 with whom the loganberry originated. 



MERSEREAU. Mersereau has long been 

 a dependable variety for both market and 

 home in the northern and eastern states. It 

 fails in the South because of susceptibility 

 to rust. Nurserymen complain that it is diffi- 

 cult to propagate. Mersereau is a seedling of 

 Snyder, long a standard, which it surpasses 

 in vigor of plant and in size and quality of 

 berry. The variety originated with J. M. 

 Mersereau, Cayuga, New York, about 1890. 



Plants tall, vigorous, upright, hardy, productive, sus- 

 ceptible to rust ; canes numerous, light red, furrowed, 

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

 palmate, oval-lanceolate, pale hoary pubescence be- 

 neath, with sharp narrow serrations in a double series. 

 Flowers 1% inches in diameter, 8-10, in short, compact, 

 leafy racemes. Fruit late midseason, season short, large, 

 oblong-conical, black, retaining color well after picking ; 

 drupelets large, round ; core soft, conical, white ; flesh 

 firm, but tender, juicy, sweet, rich ; quality very good ; 

 seeds small, soft. 



RATHBUN. Fig. 252. In appearance, the 

 berries of Rathbun are flawless, and the flavor 

 is very good; but the plants leave much to be 

 desired. They are only moderate in vigor 

 and productiveness, sucker top sparingly, are 

 susceptible to rust, winter-kill, being only 

 half-hardy, and bear flowers which must be 

 cross-pollenized. Rathbun is a blackberry- 

 dewberry hybrid having the peculiarity of 

 rooting at the tips. Despite the list of faults, 

 it is well liked in mild climates east of the 



