LUTHER BURBANK 



Like other cultivated plants, it te^ds to vary, and 

 it is said that more than twenty varieties were 

 under cultivation in England a century ago. 



The American colonists introduced this favor- 

 ite European berry at an early date, but it did 

 not find a congenial environment in the new coun- 

 try. The long, cold winters of the northern states, 

 and the dry heat of the southern summers were 

 alike hostile to it; and its lack of hardiness denied 

 it general recognition except as an occasional gar- 

 den plant. 



But the new continent possessed many wild 

 raspberries that were of course adapted to the 

 environment, and in time these came under cul- 

 tivation. Their introduction, however, was so 

 gradual that it was quite unnoticed. The only 

 raspberry cultivated extensively for the New York 

 market early in the nineteenth century was known 

 as the English Red. It is believed to have been 

 an offspring of a native berry, known as Rubus 

 neglectus (itself believed to be an accidental hy- 

 brid of our wild red and black raspberries), but 

 this was not generally known, and the name given 

 the fruit suggests that it was supposed to be of 

 European origin. 



During the latter half of the nineteenth cen- 

 tury many improved red and yellow raspberries 

 were introduced, and various of these have been 



[40] 



