THE WINEBERRY. 201 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

 The Wineberry. 



THIS is a species of Raspberry, botanically known as 

 Rubus phsenicolasius, which was originally discovered 

 growing wild in the mountains of Central and Northern 

 Japan. It appears that seeds of it were sent by a Mr. 

 J. T. Lovett in 1887 to Professor C. Georgeson, of Kansas, 

 U.S.A. In 1889 he sold his stock of plants to Mr. John 

 Lewis Child, the well-known American florist and seeds- 

 man, who placed it in commerce- 



The plant grows 3ft. to 6ft. high, has rambling canes 

 thickly covered with red hairs and weak prickles, light 

 green leaves having a whitish under-surface, and fair- 

 sized berries, which are white at first and red when ripe. 

 Until the berries are ripe they are enclosed within large, 

 hairy, viscous sepals. They are sweet and agreeable in 

 flavour, and, as they all ripen at the same time on each 

 spray, the sprays can be cut off and dished up thus for 

 dessert. The berries are also good for making jams or 

 jellies. It appears that the Wineberry does not succeed 

 well in America, but in many districts in this country it 

 has done fairly well. 



Culture. The plant is propagated by 'layering the tips 

 of the shoots, as advised for the Loganberry, which see. 

 Any good ordinary soil will suit the Wineberry, if it is 

 deeply dug and well manured prior to planting. Plant 

 in autumn or March, 4ft. apart each way, and treat it 

 as advised for the Loganberry and Blackberry in the 

 matter of pruning, training, feeding, etc. 



