LUTHER BURBANK 



Particular attention should be called to the 

 fact, just stated, that the new raspberry was al- 

 most thornless. This was true of a number of 

 my raspberries, as by selective breeding I was 

 able to give these vines smooth stems at a time 

 when my similar attempts to remove the thorns 

 from the blackberry had not been successful. 



The difference was due, perhaps, to the fact 

 that the raspberry, having been long under culti- 

 vation, had partly lost its thorns through more or 

 less unconscious selection on the part of many 

 generations of fruit growers. The thorns had 

 been reduced in many varieties to prickles, and 

 occasionally individual specimens appeared that 

 lacked even these. By selective breeding from 

 such specimens I was able to produce varieties 

 that had practically smooth vines. 



A selected seedling of the Eureka was remark- 

 able for its habit of bearing in October as well 

 as for the enormous size of the berries, which 

 were frequently almost four inches in circumfer- 

 ence. The berries were of a beautiful bright red, 

 but were rather too soft except for home use. 



Another of my crossbred raspberries, orig- 

 inated at the same time with the Eureka, was 

 called the Dictator. This also is a mammoth 

 bright red berry. It combines the flavors of the 

 Gregg and Shaffer's Colossal from which it orig- 



[48] 



