LUTHER BURBANK 



The foliage of the plant is peculiar, having a 

 curious resemblance to leaves of the grape. In- 

 deed the resemblance is so striking that people 

 passing it at a little distance have often asked 

 what kind of a grape I had that grew upright like 

 a bush. 



The entire plant is highly ornamental, growing 

 about four feet in height and bearing its hand- 

 some, large, leathery leaves in profusion. The 

 prickles on the leaves grow so close together and 

 are of such texture that they scarcely injure the 

 skin in handling them. 



The plant is not very hardy, but its other quali- 

 ties make it a very desirable species for hybridiz- 

 ing experiments. Indeed, I know of no wild 

 species of Rubus in the world that gives more 

 promise of being useful. My own experiments 

 with the plant were not carried far enough to 

 produce particularly notable results. But the 

 plant invites attention from anyone who is inter- 

 ested in the further development of our small 

 fruits. Coming from the Southern Hemisphere, it 

 should introduce a tendency to variability in a 

 conspicuous degree when crossed with some of 

 our northern species. 



Among other good qualities of the hybrid 

 progeny, there should be a tendency to prolonged 

 bearing, such as we have seen in the case of the 



[140] 



