LUTHER BURBANK 



strawberry produced by the crossing of species 

 from the two hemispheres. 



THE SALMON BERRY 



Another very interesting Rubus that shows 

 great possibility of development is the native 

 species familiar along the Pacific Coast from Cen- 

 tral California to Alaska known as the Salmon 

 berry, Rubus spectabilis. 



This is a tall, erect bush, with stout, perennial 

 canes. The stalks are usually sparsely clothed 

 with weak, slender prickles, but are sometimes 

 nearly smooth. The flowers are borne singly and 

 in pairs on slender stalks; they are large and 

 showy, being bright red or purple. 



In Humboldt and Mendocino Counties, Califor- 

 nia, I have seen this berry growing in the pastures 

 where it became a genuine tree from twelve to 

 fifteen feet in height, some of the stalks being two 

 or three inches thick. It is reported sometimes to 

 grow six inches in diameter. The cattle in the 

 pastures browse on the plants as high as they can 

 reach, and the berries are gathered with a step- 

 ladder or more commonly from the back of a 

 horse. 



The berries themselves are large and soft, al- 

 most falling to pieces in the picking. They are 

 unusually juicy, and with almost no acidity. 



There are two strongly marked varieties of 



[142] 



