Varieties of the Foreign and Native Species. 185 



the plants obtained from the East as the Red Antwerp. The original 

 canes may have been false to name, or a mixture of the true and 

 false. Whatever they were, they bore good, red berries, which I 

 supposed to be Antwerps, but the canes were so tender as to be worth- 

 less. It is wholly impossible that the new variety should have come from 

 any other seed than that sown by me where the vitae hedge now stands." 



This letter is very interesting in showing how curiously some of our 

 best varieties originate. Moreover, it suggests a dilemma. How is it possi- 

 ble that an Antwerp one of the most tender varieties could have been 

 the parent of the hardiest known raspberry ? How could a sort having 

 every characteristic of our native R. Strigosus spring direct from R. Idceus ? 



I have been familiar with the Antwerps all my life, and can see no trace 

 of them in this hardy berry. Mr. A. S. Fuller writes to me, "The Turner 

 is a true native R. Strigosus" \ and Mr. Charles Downing holds the same 

 opinion. Hence, I am led to believe that there was a native variety 

 among the plants the professor obtained from the East, or that a seed of 

 a native was dropped among the cedars by a bird, or brought thither in 

 the roots of the cedars. Be this as it may, Professor Turner's good motives 

 have been rewarded and he has given the public an excellent raspberry. 



In connection with this subject, Mr. Fuller added the following fact, 

 which opens to the amateur a very interesting field for experiment : " If 

 there is any doubt in regard to such matters, raise a few seedlings of the 

 variety, and if it is a cross or hybrid, a part of the seedlings will revert 

 back to each parent, or so near them that there will be no difficulty in 

 determining that there was a mixture of blood. If all our so-called hybrid 

 fruits were thus tested, we would then know more of their true parentage." 

 In the sunny laboratory of the garden, therefore, Nature's chemistry will 

 resolve these juicy compounds back into their original constituents. 



The Highland Hardy, or Native, also belongs to this species, and is quite 

 a favorite still in some localities ; but it has had its day, I think. Its extreme 

 earliness has made it profitable in some regions ; but its softness, small size 

 and wretched flavor should banish it from cultivation as soon as possible. 



There are others, like the Thwack, Pearl, and Bristol ; they are but second- 

 rate, being inferior in most regions to the Brandy wine, which they resemble. 



In my opinion, the chief value of R. Strigosus is to be found in two 

 facts. In the first place, they endure the severe Northern winters, and 

 what is of far more consequence their best representatives thrive on 

 light soils, and their tough foliage does not burn under the hot sun. It 

 thus becomes the one species of red raspberry that can be raised success- 

 fully in the South, and from it, as a hardy stock, we should seek to develop 

 the raspberries of the future. 

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