LUTHER BURBANK 



Knowing the possibilities that lie in the 

 hybridization of Oriental species with their Ameri- 

 can relatives, however, I did not despair of the 

 Mayberry, but hybridized it with the Cuthbert 

 raspberry, a plant that proved a remarkable 

 parent, as will be recalled, in connection with other 

 hybridizing experiments — ^notably the production 

 of the Phenomenal berry. 



The hybridization was effected without diffi- 

 culty, and the progeny showed a tendency to rapid 

 improvement. After a few generations, the berries 

 were greatly enlarged, and took on a bright yellow 

 color instead of the original dingy brown. The 

 improvement in quality was also very appreciable. 



But what was perhaps most notable was the 

 extreme earliness with which the hybrid plants 

 fruited. It was, indeed, the early bearing habit 

 of this Rubus that stimulated me to make the 

 cross. It proved possible to retain and accentuate 

 this habit while introducing the Cuthbert quality 

 into the berries. The result was a new type of 

 berry, as large as the Cuthbert raspberry, ripening 

 in April, a month before the Hansell, a variety 

 then famed for its early fruiting. 



Indeed the hybrid Rubus bears fruit at a time 

 when the earliest of the standard raspberries have 

 hardly awakened from their winter rest. 



This habit of early bearing combined with the 



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