292 



MAYES 



PRIMUS 



of opinion among those who have tried it 

 is that it gives little promise for any pur- 

 pose. It is said to ripen its fruit later than 

 the loganberry. On the grounds of the New 

 York Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, 

 New York, it responds to climate and soil 

 rather better than any other bramble of its 

 type, but even so is of little value, and does 

 not merit a detailed description. 



MAYES. Fig. 258. Austin Improved. The 

 dewberry and hybrids between it and the 

 blackberry seem to be favorite small-fruits in 

 Texas. Of the many dewberries and dewberry- 

 like brambles in that state, Mayes is the 

 leading variety. It seems to be comparatively 

 rare elsewhere, although earliness and produc- 



258. Mayes. (X%) 



tiveness commend it. The berries are hand- 

 some and of excellent quality, but fail as com- 

 mercial fruits because too soft to ship well. 

 The canes are vigorous and productive, but 

 subject to anthracnose and double-blossom. 

 The fruit ripens about a week before that of 

 Lucretia. The plants may be propagated 

 either by tips or root-cuttings. The original 

 plant was found growing wild in Texas by 

 John Mayes about 1880. 



Plants vigorous, productive, subject to anthracnose and 

 double-blossom ; canes trailing, long, slender, numerous. 

 Leaflets 3-5, mostly sessile, variable in size, coarsely 

 serrate in a double series. Flowers 1% inches in 

 diameter, 4-6 in axils of leaves and terminal. Fruit 

 early, large, conical, broad at the base, jet black ; 

 core medium to soft ; drupelets very large, round ; flesh 

 firm, juicy, sprightly; quality very good; seeds rather 

 large, soft. 



PHENOMENAL. This is a new fruit of 

 the loganberry type, introduced by Luther 

 Burbank as a cross between a variety of the 

 western dewberry and Cuthbert red raspberry. 

 Whether a cross or not, it is so similar to the 

 loganberry, an offspring of the western dew- 

 berry, that it is usually classed with it; it 

 may surpass it in some trivial characters, but 

 according to all reports, is outmatched in im- 

 portant ones. Phenomenal is of small impor- 

 tance in loganberry districts, except about Los 

 Angeles, California, where it is grown by some 

 in preference to the older sort. The great 

 drawback to its culture seems to be that the 

 plants are dwarfed by a disease which cuts 

 their life to but three or four profitable sea- 

 sons. The berries, also, are subject to dou- 

 bling, which disfigures them for the market. 

 The essential difference in normal plants of 

 the two varieties are: the canes of Phenomenal 

 are a little hardier; the blossoms open a few 

 days later; the berries are a little larger; and, 

 while the flavor of the fruits of the two is 

 similar, the juice of the loganberry makes the 

 better beverage, the fruit of both being used 

 most largely for their juice. The variety was 

 introduced in 1912. 



PREMO. Except for a few trivial differ- 

 ences, Premo might be said to be an early 

 Lucretia, and is either a sport or a seedling 

 from that variety. The plants are very like 

 those of Lucretia, but ripen their crop a week 

 or ten days earlier, are not so productive, 

 and bear more imperfect flowers. The berries 

 are smaller than those of Lucretia, but are just 

 as firm in flesh and just as good in quality. 

 This variety, a comparatively new acquisi- 

 tion, is becoming a favorite early fruit in 

 many dewberry sections in the United States, 

 especially in the South, and in North Caro- 

 lina particularly. Data regarding the origin of 

 the variety are lacking, but it has been under 

 cultivation at least since 1905. 



PRIMUS. Another variety of the logan- 

 berry type is Primus, introduced about 1890 

 by Luther Burbank as a cross between the 

 western dewberry, R. vitijolius and R, cratcegi- 

 jolius. Its chief claim for recognition By 

 berry-growers is that the crop ripens before 

 that of loganberry. The variety fails and is 

 being discarded because of several serious 

 faults; the blossoms appear early and are 

 caught by frosts; the berries cling and are 

 bruised in picking, and are dull and unattrac- 

 tive in appearance; and the plants are rather 

 more unmanageable in the plantation than 

 those of other varieties of its type, all of which 

 give trouble in staking or trellising. In foliage 

 and canes, Primus is very similar to the logan- 

 berry. The variety was introduced by Bur- 

 bank in 1893. 



