ON THE THORNLESS BLACKBERRY 



hybrid seedlings born of my thornless race were 

 given opportunity to redeem themselves in their 

 progeny. 



The expectation was justified. In the second 

 filial generation the thorny seedlings produced a 

 certain proportion of thornless progeny. And 

 these thornless bushes now bore fruit far superior 

 to that of their thornless grandparent. They had 

 inherited some of the good fruiting qualities of 

 their thorny grandparent, even though they had 

 repudiated his thorns. 



This was obviously encouraging. So the ex- 

 periment was continued along the same lines 

 through successive generations. I selected, of 

 course, the specimen in each generation that 

 showed the best combination of desired qualities 

 and hybridized, in successive generations, the 

 Lawton blackberry, the giant Himalaya, and vari- 

 ous others, to gain size of berry, earliness of bear- 

 ing, new flavors, more acid, and, in a word, to 

 supply whatever defects could be discovered. 



The original thornless berry was a late bearer, 

 and its fruit lacked size, spiciness, and refreshing 

 acidity. But these qualities were supplied in good 

 measure through successive crosses. 



One seedling in particular, grown in 1906, 

 showed exceptional qualities, and the subsequent 

 stock was largely grown from the fruit of this sin- 



[19] 



