ON THE THORNLESS BLACKBERRY 



To have produced a thornless race from them 

 was an interesting scientific achievement, but one 

 that at this stage had no practical significance. 



In order that the experiment should lead to 

 the practical results at which I aimed, it was nec- 

 essary now to improve the fruit of my thornless 

 proteges. And, while something could be done 

 in this regard by mere selection — ^in which case, 

 of course, there would be no danger of having the 

 plants backslide from a thornless condition — I 

 soon found by experiment and observation that 

 selection alone would be much too slow and 

 doubtful a method for the development of such 

 fruit as would be necessary to compete with the 

 highly developed blackberries already in the 

 market. 



For of course it could not be overlooked that 

 the ultimate purchaser is much ttiore vitally in- 

 terested in the quality of fruit supplied him than 

 in the question of whether this fruit grew on a 

 thornless vine or on a briar bush. 



By the time I had reached the conviction that 

 it would be necessary to adopt a more energetic, 

 procedure than mere selection in the education 

 of the thornless berries, I had acquired through 

 experience a very clear comprehension of the 

 methods that must be depended on to inculcate 

 the desired lessons. I knew that crossbreeding 



[15] 



