LUTHER BURBANK 



have seen manifested in the case, for example, of 

 the Japanese plum, the New Zealand winter rhu- 

 barb, and sundry other plants. For there ap- 

 peared among seedlings of the second generation 

 an individual that showed a very marked im- 

 provement over its parents. 



This exceptional seedling was cultivated and 

 propagated, and its qualities proved so unique 

 that it was introduced in 1885 by a special circu- 

 lar, being christened, as just stated, the Himalaya. 



After the usual decade or so of probation, dur- 

 ing which every new fruit of whatever quality 

 must wait for recognition, the Himalaya took its 

 place, first on the Pacific Coast, and later through- 

 out the northern and central states, as a standard 

 blackberry. After it came to its own, so to speak, 

 its popularity was so great that for several years 

 the plants could not be multiplied fast enough to 

 meet the demand. 



It is a plant of extraordinary vigor. A single 

 cane may grow more than twenty-five feet — some- 

 times even fifty feet — in a season, and attain near 

 the base a diameter of an inch to an inch and a 

 half. 



The aggregate growth of cane of a single plant 

 in a season may exceed a thousand feet — one fifth 

 of a mile. 



And in point of fruit production, the Himalaya 



[30] 



