(Tanabian 



l3orticulturiet 



Published at Toronto and Grimsby, Ont. 

 OFFICE ADDRESS— GRIMSBY, ONT. 



VOL. X.] 



APRIL, 1887. 



[No. 4. 



i). 



BLACKBERRIES, NEW AND OLD. 



The Blackberry has been for many 

 years a favorite fruit for market pur- 

 poses, "with us at Grimsby ; and, in sea- 

 sons when the peach fails, it fills a most 

 important place in the home fruit gar- 

 den. But within the last few years, 

 through the introduction of many 

 hardy kinds, its culture has been so 

 much extended that the profits have 

 much diminished. 



Previous to the year 1850, no cul- 

 tivated varieties of the blackberry were 

 known, but about this time the 



DORCHESTKR 



was introduced by Captain Lovett, of 

 Beverly, Mass. This variety was cul- 

 tivated very successfully by Mr. C. M. 

 Hovey of Boston, who cjaims to have 

 grown the berries so lar^e that 37 would 



fill a quai't box. It is still considered 

 a standard variety, Mr. Gofi'of Geneva 

 placing it even before the Kittatinny. 

 About the year 1854 the 



LAWTOX 



was discovered near New Rochelle, 

 N. Y., after which place it is sometimes 

 called " The New Rochelle." 



Our first experience in blackberry 

 growing was with this variety, which 

 had been brought into Canada by our 

 old friend, Mr. A. M. Smith. It was 

 a good grower, and bore good crops, 

 but our great objection to it was its 

 manner of rijiening. It would color 

 nicely, and yet conceal within a green, 

 hard, sour core, which would cause a 

 wry face upon any one who was goose 

 enough to try to eat it ; and if left till 

 dead ripe, it was too soft to ship any 

 distance. No wonder that the market 

 for blackberries opened up for us very 

 slowlv, or that the brambles were soon 



