SNYDER 



TAYLOR 



289 



Rocky Mountains. The variety originated 

 with Alvin Rathbun, Silver Creek, New York, 

 about 1885. 



252. Rathbun. (XD 



Plants of medium size and vigor, half-hardy, mod- 

 erately productive ; canes few, angular, greenish, with 

 straight, slender spines. Flowers 1% inches in diameter, 

 3-7, in short, open, leafy racemes with a few prickles, 

 sterile or nearly so. Fruit early, very large, somewhat 

 variable, cylindrical, jet black ; core cylindrical, soft, 

 white ; drupelets large, round, numerous ; flesh firm, 

 juicy, sweet, rich ; quality very good ; seeds large, soft. 



253. Snyder. (XD 



SNYDER. Fig. 253. The fruit is not in- 

 viting in appearance and taste and turns red 

 after picking, faults that condemn Snyder; 



but the plants rejoice in such vigor, health, 

 productiveness, and hardiness that for seventy 

 years the variety has been a standard. At 

 the beginning of this century, Snyder was 

 probably the best known of all blackberries, 

 but several rivals in season now surpass it, 

 so that its popularity is rapidly on the wane, 

 although the variety is still to be found from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific, except in the 

 South. It does well on rather poor, light soils. 

 The variety originated with Henry Snyder, 

 La Porte, Indiana, about 1851. 



Plants tall, upright, very vigorous, hardy and pro- 

 ductive ; canes numerous, stocky, rough, furrowed, 

 reddish-brown, with many very large, thick, straight 

 thorns. Leaflets mostly 5, palmate, ovate-lanceolate, 

 narrow, pubescent above and beneath, apex acute, sharply 

 serrate in a double series. Flowers 1% inches in 

 diameter, 15-20, in long, leafy racemes. Fruit mid- 

 season, season short, of medium size, glossy black ; c"ore 

 elongated, soft, white ; drupelets large, round ; flesh 

 firm, sweet, poorly flavored ; quality poor ; seeds large, 

 soft. 



SORSBY. This variety is recommended by 

 small-fruit growers in Texas and neighboring 

 states, but finds no favor elsewhere. On the 

 grounds of the New York Agricultural Ex- 

 periment Station, the plants flourish like the 

 biblical bay, but refuse to set fruit other than 

 mere nubbins. The variety, even where it 

 does well, is more or less self-sterile, and 

 must be set with other sorts to pollenize it. 

 It is said to be a dewberry-blackberry hybrid, 

 which, in plant, closely resembles McDonald, 

 although the berries are smaller than those 

 of the latter variety but even more delicious. 

 Sorsby is said to be taking the place of Early 

 Harvest in parts of Texas. Except that it is 

 a comparatively recent acquisition from Texas, 

 nothing seems to be known of the origin of 

 the variety. 



TAYLOR. Fig. 

 254. Taylor has long 

 been the favorite 

 late blackberry with 

 commercial berry- 

 growers, and is prized 

 also because it sur- 

 passes most of its 

 garden associates in 

 hardiness of bush, in 

 immunity to rust, 

 and in quality of 

 fruit. It falls short 

 only in productive- 

 ness, for it is but 

 moderately produc- 

 tive in many lo- 

 calities. The plants 

 are characterized 

 by greenish -yellow 

 canes, sometimes 

 tinted with red. 

 Although an old 

 variety, having orig- 

 inated with a Mr. Taylor, Spiceland, Indiana, 

 in 1867, it is still one of the mainstays of 

 commercial growers east of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. 



254. Taylor. (XD 



