A  Promising  New  Canning  Raspberry 
WELL  NAMED — THE  COLUMBIAN. 
A  new  raspberry  is  wanted — so  say  our  growers  of 
small  fruits.  None  of  the  existing  sorts  fills  the  wants 
of  the  horticulturists.  Some  do  well  in  certain  loca’ities, 
but  none  does  well  in  all  places  and  many  once  profit¬ 
able  have  lost  their  vitality  and  are  not  productive. 
Mr.  Joseph  T.  Thompson,  of  Oneida,  N.  Y.,  has  a 
new  berry  of  which  good  accounts  had  reached  us. 
A  specimen  plant  has  been  in  The  Rural  grounds 
since  last  spring,  but  has  not  yet  fruited.  Desiring 
to  know  more  of  it,  a  representative  of  The  Rural 
journeyed  to  Oneida  for  the  sole  purpose  of  seeing  this 
new  berry.  A  cut  of  the  original  bush,  now  seven 
years  old,  accompanies  this  article  and  we  assure  our 
readers  that  it  in  no  way  exaggerates  its 
wonderful  growth.  Prof.  Reach,  of  the 
New  York  State  Experiment  Station,  was 
asked  to  name  the  new  berry  and  sug¬ 
gested  Columbian — a  name  which  Mr. 
Thompson  adopted. 
From  Mr.  Thompson  the  following  his¬ 
tory  of  the  berry  was  obtained.  The 
seed  was  taken  from  a  Cuthbert  rasp¬ 
berry  which  grew  next  to  a  row  of  Gregg 
blackcaps.  Believing  that  the  Colum¬ 
bian  is  a  cross  between  the  red  and  black, 
coupled  with  the  location  of  its  ancestor, 
he  rather  reasonably  infers  that  it  is  a 
cross  between  the  Cuthbert  and  Gregg. 
The  seed  was  planted  in  the  spring  of 
1885.  In  the  spring  of  the  third  year,  he 
set  out  35  plants  which  he  had  succeeded 
in  propagating  from  the  parent  plant. 
From  these,  the  next  season — the  fourth 
— he  picked  48  quarts  of  berries  ;  the  next 
year  they  produced  130,  and  during  the 
third  season  of  fruiting,  a  time  of  drought, 
he  picked  100  quarts. 
The  Rural  representative  gave  it  a 
very  careful  examination  and  has  no 
hesitation  in  pronouncing  it  a  very  prom¬ 
ising  berry.  It  is  a  most  vigorous  grower 
— it  would  be  hard  to  overestimate  its 
capacities  in  this  direction.  The  original 
plant  stands  by  itself,  and,  as  the  picture 
shows,  is  a  very  vigorous  one.  In  a 
neighboring  lot  is  a  patch  of  the  plants 
in  full  bearing  and  it  would  be  hard  to 
find  anything  more  beautiful  in  every 
respect — rank,  vigorous  and  extremely 
productive. 
The  berry  is  of  the  same  type  as  the 
Shaffer — that  is,  it  propagates  from  the 
tips,  does  not  sucker,  and  is  similar  in 
color.  In  shape,  it  is  longer  than  the 
Shaffer,  more  solid  and  adheres  much 
more  firmly  to  the  stems.  In  quality,  it  is 
an  improvement  on  the  Shaffer,  being 
sweeter  when  ripe  and  of  higher  flavor. 
These  comparisons  are  made  with  the 
Shaffer,  because  we,  can  thus  best  illustrate,  and  be¬ 
cause  of  the  fact,  that  the  Shaffer  is,  to-day,  probably, 
the  most  productive  raspberry  under  cultivation.  In 
general  appearance,  both  are  much  alike  in  foliage 
and  cane.  On  close  examination,  marked  differences 
are  seen.  The  canes  of  the  Columbian  are  more 
woody.  Its  thorns  are  a  bright,  light  green  in  color, 
while  those  of  the  Shaffer  have  more  or  less  of  a  pur¬ 
ple  tinge. 
“  Is  it  perfectly  hardy  ?  ”  said  I  to  Mr.  Thompson. 
“Oh,  yes.  With  the  mercury  here  dropping  to  28 
degrees  below  zero,  I  have  never  known  a  plant  to  be 
killed.  One  winter,  I  bent  a  few  canes  over  as  well 
as  I  could,  leaving  others  erect.  The  only  difference 
I  could  see  the  next  season  was  that  those  which  had 
been  protected  a  little  were  a  few  days  earlier.  None 
were  killed.” 
“  How  long  does  the  picking  season  last  ?  ” 
“  Generally  from  July  12,  to  the  middle  of  August.” 
“  Have  you  canned  many  of  them  ?  ” 
“  Oh,  yes.  It  is  as  a  canning  berry  that  the  Colum¬ 
bian  has  most  value.  I  sent  a  few  quarts  to  the  can¬ 
ning  factory  of  the  Oneida  Community  for  trial.  We 
will  go  down  and  hear  what  they  have  to  report.” 
We  went  to  the  Community  factory  and  there  had 
an  opportunity  to  compare  the  Shaffer  and  Columbian 
canned.  Mr.  Hines,  in  charge  of  the  factory,  who  had 
been  somewhat  skeptical  as  to  the  superiority  of  the 
Columbian,  freely  conceded  it  after  trial.  Despite  the 
utmost  care,  the  Shaffer  goes  to  pieces  in  the  can  — 
the  Columbian  remains  whole,  and  it  also  shrinks  far 
less  in  the  canning  process.  This  gives  it  special  value 
for  these  purposes  and  we  think  it  will  supersede  the 
Shaffer. 
Its  color,  which  does  not  materially  differ  from  that 
of  the  Shaffer,  is  somewhat  of  an  objection,  not  being 
a  popular  color  in  the  market,  but  its  advantages  are 
so  many  that  it  is  sure  to  win  favor  despite  this  single 
drawback.  The  fruit  adheres  to  the  stem  very  firmly — 
it  will  not  drop  off,  even  when  dead  ripe,  but  will  dry 
up  on  the  bush. 
In  all,  it  is  most  promising  and  The  Rural  predicts 
for  it  a  great  future,  if  it  shall  succeed  abroad  as  it 
does  at  home.  The  stock  is  all  in  Mr.  Thompson’s 
hands  as  yet.  He  set  out  a  new  plantation  of  10,000 
plants  last  spring,  which  are  now  growing  finely, 
and  which  will  be  in  bearing  in  the  season  of  1893, 
when  those  interested  may  have  an  opportunity  of  ex¬ 
amining  it  under  field  culture. 
Wintering  Fruit- Wood. 
Fruits  that  we  grow  ourselves  at  home  are  doubly 
more  enjoyable  and  more  enjoyed  than  similar  kinds 
bought  in  the  markets,  partly  because  they  can  be 
ripened  more  normally,  and  largely  because  they  are 
of  our  own  production.  Grapes  can  be  grown  even  in 
the  coldest  sections,  if  the  vines  are  laid  down  on  the 
soil  in  November,  so  as  to  be  covered  with  snow,  and 
this  is  an  easy  matter  with  their  pliant  stems. 
Prof.  Budd  says  that  peach  trees  have  been  fruited 
successfully  in  Iowa  by  using  the  same  preservative 
precaution.  Their  stiff,  branchy  nature  ill  adapts  them 
to  lying  down,  but  this  difficulty  is  overcome  by  reduc¬ 
ing  the  young  tree  to  a  single  bare  stem  after  one 
year’s  growth.  This  stem  is  bent  flat  to  the  ground 
late  in  the  fall ;  the  roots  being  bent  or 
cut  to  make  it  practicable.  About  five 
feet  of  the  stem  remain  nermanently 
horizontal  and  the  point  grows  upward 
and  is  allowed  to  branch  ;  but  chiefly  in 
line  with  the  prostrate  stem,  and  is 
staked  to  hold  it  erect.  In  the  next  fall 
the  top  is  easily  bent  down  to  one  side  or 
the  other  and  held  flat  by  billets  of  wood. 
The  fine,  fragrant  Antwerp  sorts  of  rasp¬ 
berry  can  be  fruited  abundantly  with 
similar  care  to  let  only  three  or  four 
canes  grow  in  a  hill  in  summer  and  to 
weight  these  down  for  the  winter.  It  is 
best  not  to  cover  any  of  such  laid-down 
shoots  with  earth  as,  if  mild  weather 
occurs  before  April,  the  fruit  buds  may 
swell  and  rot.  A  difficulty  in  the  case  of 
the  peach  tree  is  its  tendency  to  making 
rank  growth  late  in  summer,  which  can¬ 
not  ripen  well.  The  bending  and  train¬ 
ing  indicated  above  are  likely  to  check 
this  over-production  of  soft  wood  and  to 
induce  more  flowering  buds  and  shoots. 
Live  Fences  for  Comfort  and  Beauty. 
— Whether  fences  should  be  abolished  is 
a  disputable  question,  although  so  unre¬ 
servedly  advocated  by  many.  It  is  largely 
a  matter  of  fashion,  still  more  of  con¬ 
venience  and  economy,  and  scarcely  less 
of  comfort  and  beauty.  As  to  fashion, 
it  is  thought,  here  in  Blair  County,  Pa., 
that  a  neat  fence,  of  suitable  form  and 
color,  is  to  a  house  and  yard  what  a 
frame  is  to  a  picture.  As  to  convenience, 
so  long  as  any  stock  is  kept  at  large — 
that  is,  so  long  as  any  stock  at  all  is 
kept — fences  are  indispensable  ;  and  as 
to  economy,  comfort  and  beauty,  the 
shelter  afforded  by  green  living  fences 
would  be  followed  by  poverty  and  deso¬ 
lation  if  they  were  taken  away.  Only 
the  humblest  plants  and  the  hardiest 
animals,  such  as  live  on  the  wide  and 
open  prairies,  could  endure  the  unchecked 
sweep  of  the  wind  and  the  weather. 
The  introduction  of  barbed  wire  has  greatly  lessened 
the  cost  of  fencing,  and  the  cost  is  the  gist  of  all 
objections.  Even  with  the  best  of  chestnut  and  locust 
timber  at  hand,  the  keeping  up  of  adequate  fences 
makes  a  serious  reduction  of  the  profits  of  farming  ; 
while,  with  poor  fences,  there  can  be  no  profit  or  com¬ 
fort  at  all.  Ordinarily,  where  fence  stuff  is  scarce  or 
of  material  that  soon  decays,  profit  is  out  of  the  ques¬ 
tion.  The  new  style  of  woven  fence  of  slender  wooden 
pickets  and  wire  strands,  is  very  complete  and  neat 
while  entire,  but  when  pickets  decay  and  the  difficulty 
of  repairing  or  replacing  comes  up  there  will  be  new 
outbursts  of  complaint.  As  to  fences  or  hedges  being 
injurious  as  nurseries  of  weeds  and  wild  growth,  it  is 
not  the  fences  but  the  farmer's  negligence  that  is  in 
fault  on  that  score.  Lay  the  blame  therefore  where  it 
properly  should  lie.  w.  ft.  WARhm 
Thf  Original  Columbian  Raspberry.  Fig.  233. 
