148 Bush-Fruits 



grown and probably all of those which have become prom* 

 inent. 



BLACK RASPBERRIES 



Rubus occidentalis 



Black-caps form the youngest group of raspberries in 

 cultivation, but are now the most important. Immense 

 strides have been made since Nicholas Longworth first 

 transferred the Ohio Everbearing to his dooryard in 1832. 

 The species adapts itself so readily to cultivation, and is so 

 uniformly hardy and productive, ripening its fruit in a 

 comparatively short time, and withal is so good to eat, 

 that its popularity is well merited. Its adaptability to 

 being grown as a farm crop, for evaporating purposes, has 

 also given a stimulus to its cultivation. The future of the 

 black raspberry is promising. 



Very little need be said concerning the botanical char- 

 acters of the black-cap, since the species to which it be- 

 longs, Rubus occidenialis, is so distinct from the other cul- 

 tivated species of raspberries. The color of the fruit and 

 method of propagation are alone sufficient to distinguish 

 it from others. A western type, Rubus leucodermis, is 

 closely related, so closely indeed that it may well be con- 

 sidered as only a geographical variety or modification of 

 the eastern form, though now classed as a species by 

 botanists. It is found in the mountains of California and 

 adjoining states. It is distinguished from Rubus occi- 

 dentalis chiefly by the color of the fruit, which is yellowish 

 red or wine-colored, by the coarser toothed leaflets and 

 the stouter and more hooked prickles. 



The Ohio Everbearing appears to have been the first 



