228 Notes a7id Gleanin°^s. 



The "true Naomi Raspberry : " what axd where is it ? — For sev- 

 eral years past, the public have heard, from time to time, of a wonderful new 

 seedling raspberry called the " Naomi," which was claimed to possess marvel- 

 lous beauty, excellence, hardiness, productiveness, and all other qualifications 

 necessary for absolute perfection. 



An enthusiastic individual of my acquaintance, anxious to possess this para- 

 gon, invested fifty dollars for fifty plants direct from the originator; but, after 

 growing them a year or two, had his enthusiasm wonderfully cooled by the dis- 

 covery that it was not entirely hardy, not very productive, not very good, and, in 

 short, so nearly worthless, that he did not regard it as worthy of dissemination. 

 Others who received plants directly from the originator had the same experi- 

 ence. 



It was then said that Mrs. Wood had produced several seedlings ; and as 

 raspberry-roots of this class, when planted near each other, ivill run together, 

 the Naomi and other seedlings had become so mixed, that, for a time, it was 

 uncertain which was Naomi, and which was not. 



It was found, however, that there was o)ie among the lot, whose character 

 appeared constant, and which seemed really good ; and this one was selected 

 from the mixed rubbish, and another *' true Naomi " was ready for dissemi- 

 nation. 



Things were about in this condition last summer, when the ad-interim com- 

 mittee of the Ohio Horticultural Society visited Cleveland, and made the Naomi 

 a subject of special investigation. The committee were accompanied by several 

 gentlemen who had plantations of the last edition of Naomi, and they with 

 others were considered fully competent to afford the committee all the informa- 

 tion necessary to a full understanding of the subject. I think the first plants, 

 in full bearing, and which were declared by the experts to be "■true Naomi " be- 

 yond doubt or question, were found in a private garden on Euclid Street. The 

 gardener was called, who said it was 7iot Naomi, but Antiuerp^ which he had 

 bought for a few cents, while Naomi was worth a dollar each. The committee 

 then visited the grounds of a gentleman near the original stock, and found a 

 large lot of Naomi evidently a good deal mixed, containing, however, a few 

 plants resembling the Euclid-street variety. We then visited the original stock, 

 and found about the same mixed condition of things as at the latter place. The 

 venerable Dr. J. P. Kirtland was subsequently visited ; and his " Naomis " were 

 found apparently unmixed, but of the variety (or one of them) now regarded as 

 " bogus." 



At this stage of the investigation, I confess that I began to have serious 

 doubts as to there being any "true Naomi" of any special value ; for I did not 

 believe this latter-day Naomi was a new variety at all, but that it was either 

 Franconia, or some kindred sort. A portion of the committee visited Collamer, 

 a few miles east from Cleveland, the next day, where two gentlemen had large 

 plantations of the new and "true Naomi," which were identical with the Euclid- 

 street variety, but, like this latter plantation, were not derived from the origina- 

 tor of the A'aomi, but from other parties, claimed to have obtained plants many 

 years ago from her grounds. 



