VI 



THE BLACKBERRIES 



The blackberry is one of the newest and 

 certainly the wildest of the native fruits of 

 North America that have become established 

 in cultivation. Heavily armed with vicious 

 thorns and aggressively extending its holdings 

 by sending up a forest of new plants on all 

 sides, it vigorously advertises the fact that it 

 has not yet become adjusted to its new sur- 

 roundings. 



Blackberries are abundant in the waste 

 lands of most parts of the north temperate 

 zone, and for uncounted centuries the fruit has 

 been esteemed, but it is only in North America 

 that their culture has become well established. 

 This delectable fruit is almost a stranger to 

 European gardens, aside from the surrounding 

 hedge rows in which it flourishes. 



In this country blackberry culture had ad- 

 vanced but little at the time of the Civil War. 

 The first varieties to be grown successfully 



66 



