550 [Assembly 



the fences almost any where, and produce abundantly, if left to 

 themselves. The blackberry with us has got to be an important 

 fruit. There are supposed to be hundreds of thousands of bushels 

 brought to our markets every year ; it is almost incredible to 

 witness the quantity every day offered for sale j they sell readily 

 too, and if in good state, at a fair price. They are a little tart, 

 but very pleasant and extremely grateful in hot weather, as most 

 fruits are. This fruit also possesses some astringent qualities, 

 which makes them highly mediciual for complaints of the bowels 

 and kidneys, which prevail considerably at the season when they 

 are brought to market. Blackberry jelly is very ^ood for those 

 complaints, and if properly made, can be preserved a long time, 

 and has a delightful flavor. The roots, too, are often used for 

 the same purpose ; they are boiled and a tea made of it, and drank, 

 and relief found from it. There are two kinds of this fruit, one 

 called the standing, the other the running blackberry; the first 

 grows perpendicular from the root a straight stem from four to 

 eight feet high, with short lateral branches which bear the fruit, 

 putting out near the bottom of the stem, and more or less of them 

 until near the top, the berry generally a little larger than the 

 running kind, but not of such a delicious flavor; the medicinal 

 properties of the two are nearly the same. The vines spring up 

 from the main roots of the latter on every side, and run in every 

 direction on the ground ; hence the botanic name, Rubus incum- 

 bens, lying or resting, on or near the ground, if they have a good 

 chance, they are more prolific bearers considerably than the up-, 

 right kind. I have seen, some years ago, fields of ten or fifteen 

 acres of the former nearly covered with their vines, and so loaded 

 with fruit, as to appear almost black with it. Both kinds no 

 doubt may be much improved by a little cultivation, such as 

 cutting out all shrubs and destroying coarse weeds and grasses. 

 New-Jersey and Staten Island have done something towards this, 

 within a few years, as they have sent vast quantities to our mar- 

 kets of late, and some of the best kind. 



Professor Mapes. — The remarks of the Chairman relative to 

 the medicinal virtues of the blackberry, syrup or jam, remind me 

 of a saying of Dr. Franklin on that point, to wit, that he had 

 discovered that the virtue was in the sugar and not in the berry. 



