Edible Wild Fruits of New York. 93 



vation. The dewberry (Rubus Canadensis) is very common in old, neg- 

 lected fields. Its prostrate stems spread extensively over the ground, 

 and, when once established, it is very persistent and is with difficulty 

 eradicated. In very poor soil it is frequently attacked by the black- 

 berry rust fungus ( Cceoma nitens), which covers the lower surface of 

 the leaves with its beautiful orange-colored, dust-like spores. This 

 fungus sometimes attacks cultivated blackberries and black raspber- 

 ries, much to the hurt and disgust of the cultivators. The lesson 

 which nature teaches is that well-fed plants are much less liable to at- 

 tack than starved ones. The fruit of the dewberry is somewhat 

 globular in shape, coarsely seeded, but sweet and pleasant in flavor. 

 It ripens rather earlier than the blackberry, and probably on this ac- 

 count it has been introduced into cultivation. The Lucretia dewberry 

 is generally considered the best of the cultivated sorts. Owing to its 

 trailing habit, it is advisable to tie the stems to stakes to keep the 

 berries clean and to facilitate picking them. The running swamp 

 blackberry {Rubus hipidus) is a still smaller plant, with a more slender 

 trailing stem, beset with small bristles or prickles, with almost ever- 

 green leaves, and small, sour, barely edible fruit. It grows chiefly in 

 swamps and cool woods, and is unimportant as a food-producing plant. 

 The sand blackberry {Rubus cuncipolius) has a much better fruit, 

 an upright mode of growth, with leaves whitish, wooly on the lower 

 surface. It delights in sandy soil, as its name implies, but it barely enters 

 our southern limits, and is scarcely important to us as a wild, food plant, 

 though its fruit is large and well-flavored, and might be developed into 

 a variety which might be profitably raised on light, sandy soil in more 

 southern localities. 



Of strawberries we have two species, the field strawberry {Fragaria 

 Virginiana) and the wood strawberry {Fragaria vesca). This is also 

 called Alpine strawberry and English strawberry. It is also native in 

 Europe, where it has long been cultivated. From both species most 

 excellent varieties have been developed by cultivation, selection and 

 crossing. There is scarcely a better or more popular small fruit in our 

 market than the strawberry. The annual consumption of it is steadily 

 and rapidly increasing. Many who have them in sufficient quantity 

 put them on their tables every day during the strawberry season, and 

 some eat them three times a day. The opinion is quite prevalent that 

 the wild strawberry is superior in flavor to the cultivated. The culti- 

 vated varieties differ much in flavor, but there are some which are 

 scarcely surpassed by the wild ones in flavor, and certainly not in size 

 and appearance. The flavor is influenced by soil, degree of moisture, 



