THE THORNLESS BLACKBERRY 

 AND OTHERS 



SOME TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE BRAMBLE PATCH 



THE nursery rhyme about the wise man and 

 the bramble-bush will probably have little 

 meaning for our grandchildren. For the 

 brambles of their day will have no thorns with 

 which to scratch out eyes let alone scratch them 

 in again. 



This, I think, is a fairly safe prediction, for 

 the thornless blackberry is an accomplished fact, 

 as anyone who has visited my gardens can testify; 

 and the value of thornlessness in a berry-produc- 

 ing vine is so obvious that the new product can 

 hardly fail to supplant the old type of briar bush 

 quite rapidly. 



Whoever has visited a blackberry or raspberry 

 patch of the old type and attempted to gather the 

 fruit, will recall, doubtless, bringing away sou- 

 venirs in the form of scratches that were far more 

 lasting than the fruit itself. 



[VOLUME VI CHAPTER I] 



