190 BUSH-FRUITS 



After the settlement of this country the first attempts at culti- 

 vation, as with other fruits, were with varieties which had been 

 familiar in England. In the second edition of William R. Prince's 

 " Pomological Manual," published in 1832, fourteen varieties are 

 described and six others mentioned as meriting culture. All but 

 four of these are probably varieties of R. Idceus, although in some 

 cases it is impossible to decide with certainty. Of these four, at 

 least three appear to be forms of E. strlgosus from different lo- 

 calities, while the fourth may belong to the Rubus neglectus, or 

 Purple -cane type. One of the varieties which appears to be 

 European may also belong here. The American Pomological 

 Society, at its second session in 1853, recommended four varieties 

 for general cultivation, and commended one more as promising, all 

 of which were foreign sorts. In the catalogue, as recommended 

 by the last session in 1891, there appear fourteen varieties of 

 Rubus Idceus, one of which is placed there doubtfully, and six of 

 which are seedlings of American origin. There are also twenty - 

 nine native varieties, six of which are classed under R. neglectus, 

 fourteen under R. occidentalis, and nine under R. strigosus. This, 

 however, is far from representing the true state of comparative 

 cultivation of the foreign and native species and varieties at the 

 present time, for of the fourteen foreign varieties and their seed- 

 lings still retained, not over five or six are now cultivated to any 

 extent, and these only in very limited areas. 



While the Rubus Idceus type is everywhere acknowledged to be 

 much superior in the quality of its fruit, it is not able to maintain 

 itself against summer suns and winter winds, and has had to give 

 place to hardier sorts, better able to fight their own battles and 

 emerge from them bearing abundant trophies of fruit, not so ex- 

 quisite, perhaps, yet more substantial and sure. Moreover, with 

 the gradual improvement which has gone on, there is at present 

 little need for foreign varieties. The best of our natives yield 

 fruit which is doubtless far superior to that which gratified the 

 gods on Mount Ida in those days of war and wonder. Among 

 the first varieties of R. strigosus to become prominent were the 

 Stoever and Brandywine. The former is a form of the American 

 red, found wild near Lake Dunmore, in Vermont, by Jefferson F. 



