by ft 
[Entered according to Act of Courts, In the'year 1877. by the Rnral Publishing Company, la the office of the Librarian oTcongw at wlirtiington.l 
ioriintlfural, 
PURPLE FLOWERING RA8PBERRY. 
Almost every summer wo rooeive inquiries 
about, or specimens of a wonderful raspberry 
with large purple dowers and leaves resembliug 
those of a grape-vine, which has been found in 
some particular locality and by some person who, 
imagining he has discovered an unknown variety, 
immediately proclaims the fact and asks a bid for 
his treasure. Not many years since, a man in 
one of the Western States, having found a plant 
of this grape-leaf raspberry, proceeded to propa¬ 
gate it for a number of years, believing that he 
was going to astonish the botanists and fruit¬ 
growers of the world with an entirely new plant- 
After keeping his operations secret, however, and 
and spending time and money in its multiplica¬ 
tion—ho learned, when just ready to make a dash 
for a fortune—that he had something which was 
very old, common, and worse than all, of no 
particular value. 
To enable our readers to recognize this wild 
species of the raspberry we give the accompany¬ 
ing illustration of a flowering branch with fruit 
and a leaf, the latter, however, is not half the 
natural size of some found upon the large and 
thrifty canes. 
This species is known to botanists as Rubus 
odoratua, but it has several common or local 
names, such as purple-flowering raspberry, wild 
mulberry, grape-leaf raspberry, Ac., Ac. The 
flowers are large and of a bright, purplish, rose- 
oolor, succeeded by & broad, flattish, red berry 
with small seeds enclosed ia a soft, pasty pulp 
of not much flavor, but, to some persons, quite 
agreeable. The canes are large and strong¬ 
growing, five to seven foot high, bearmg no 
thorns but numerous fine prickles, the outer 
bark breaking loose and peeling off iu strips as 
the canes become old. It may be well to note 
here that, while the canes of all our more oom- 
mouly cultivated raspberries and blackberries are 
biennial, dying the second year, soon after fruit- 
ing, those of the R. odoratua are perennial, liv¬ 
ing several years. 
There are also two other species with peren¬ 
nial, shrubby canes, namely, the White Flower¬ 
ing (R. /iutkanua), found from Northern 
Michigan westward to Washington Territory, 
and the Salmon Berry (R. macropetalu8') of 
Northern California, and while these three may 
be considered as exceptions to the general rule, 
still it ia well to know that they exist, especially 
when looking for new things in this direction. 
Let us return, however, to our common Purple¬ 
flowering species, which is so frequently brought 
forward as something new and desirable. The 
range of country which it inhabits is quite exten¬ 
sive, but it is mainly found upon rooky cliffs and 
ravines throughout the Canadas and New En¬ 
gland States, and Westward to Wisconsin, also 
along the mountains &b far south as Georgia. 
The plants are generally in bloom from June 
until fall, and consequently attract the attention 
of persona who would scarcely notioe the shrub 
were it not for its gay-colored flowers. 
As ornamental shrubs, both the White and 
Purple-flowering raspberries are worth a place 
in the garden, hut the fruit, as we have said, is 
of little value, although many a traveler and 
hunter, when weary and thirsty, has thought 
them delicious when found in their native 
habitats. 
The Salmon Berry has also been highly praised 
by persons under similar circumstances, and by 
the pioneers in California; but none of these 
fruits will compare favorably with the poorest of 
our cultivated sorts. 
We have frequently tried to cultivate the 
Salmon Berry in our garden, and although it 
was not difficult to keep the plants alive by 
giving protection, still we failed to secure any 
fruit. 
But this wild purple raspberry may at some 
time become the parent of very valuable varie¬ 
ties, for if the common wild red or oven black¬ 
caps can be crossed with it, curious and interest¬ 
ing results must certainly follow, and we hope 
some of our scientific horticulturists will try 
their hands at this kind of mixture. This spe«- 
cie* has, as a starting point, a large berry of mild 
flavor, also a vigorous growth of cane, healthy 
leaves, and great hardiness, withstanding the 
rigors of very cold climates, but the fruit ia not 
abundant nor good enough, winch faults might 
possibly be remedied in the first goneration of 
hybrids, supposing such can be produced. 
Of course we do not B&y that hybrids can be 
produced between tliiH and any of our other na¬ 
tive species, but the thing is worth trying oven 
should it fail. The man who sucoeeds in suc¬ 
cessfully performing the operation will have the 
consciousness of accomplishing something which 
has never been dono to our knowledge, but while 
we may doubt the probabilities of doing it, it may 
tsill be considered within the range of possibilities. 
ABOUT RASPBERRIES. 
As many of our readers, this spring, may de- 
Biro to plant raspberries, a few hints may not 
come amiss, especially to those who have had no 
extended experience in the cultivation of this 
fruit. 
For convenience sake, we shall place the dif¬ 
ferent well-known and now sorts in six different 
groups, as follows: 
BLACK-CAPS. 
These varieties are generally very hardy, and 
belong to what tho botanists term Rubus occi- 
dmtalia, found growing wild all over tho North¬ 
ern States aud westward to Oregon, and south¬ 
ward along tho Alleghanies and other elevated 
regions. The natural method of propagation is 
by the bending over of young canes until their 
ends toach the ground. Roots are thou pro¬ 
duced, the extreme ends turning up, from 
which, the ensuing year, new canes arise, and 
are supported by the now roots started tho pre¬ 
ceding autumn. This ia the process of propaga¬ 
tion pursued by nurserymen, and the plants 
which they sell are oalled tips. These are far 
preferable to the old or parent stools for trans¬ 
planting, although they are not larger nor have 
they more mots than a good-sized strawberry 
plant. These little plants should be set out 
* f!are ai| d given plenty of room, say, in 
* rows five to «ix feet apart, and tho plants about 
four feet apart in the row. The first season it 
' may seem a waste of land to set them so far 
J apart, but tho next year, if a good growth is 
made, there will be by no means too much room 
for proper cultivation. 
1 In the way of varieties, the old Doolittle is 
one of the earliest and host, although Davison’s 
ThornlesB comes in a few days earlier. For a 
- second early, Seneca cannot be excelled, and for 
l a late, very large sort, the McCormick (erro- 
1 noously called Mammoth Cluster by some) is as 
good as any of tho newer varieties which are 
more highly extolled by the originators. 
YEUOW-CAPS, 
Thoso are really sports or vai’ietiea of the 
Black-caps, and of the aamo habit; but the 
caiios, like the fruit, are of a yellowish color. 
We have cultivated something like a dozen va¬ 
rieties of these Yollow-oaps and, although some 
of them are very handsome, thoy have never 
become popular in market, probably more 
through a prejudice in color thmi anything else. 
No yellow raspberry has ever been a successful 
competitor against the rods or blacks in our 
markets, although there are varieties like, for 
instance, Briiioklo'B Orange, which are scarcely 
excelled in size and flavor. 
PURPLE-CANES. 
Fifty years ago, aud previous to that time, no 
raspberries were Been in New York City markets 
except what is called the old Purple-cane. This 
was cultivated on Long Island quite extensively, 
considering tho small demaud for such fruits, 
and while few would to-day find fault with the 
flavor of this old sort, its small size and dark, 
purplish color render it too unattractive for a 
market berry. The plant is propagated in the 
same manner ns the Black - caps, although 
sprouts from the old roots are also used in form¬ 
ing new plantations. 
The next sort belonging to this Purple-cane 
group which has gained considerable notoriety, is 
the now common Philadelphia raspberry. The 
oanes of this do not bond over and tako root at 
the tips like the Purplo-oano, which Is supposed 
to be its parent, but they are quite stocky and 
stand upright, carrying a heavy load of fruit. It 
is a most wonderfully productive variety, the 
berries being large, of a dull, purplish color, 
only moderately Arm, and of a good, but not 
first-rate quality. It la an excellent sort for 
home use, whore more tender and delicate sorts 
do not succeed, but the berries are not quite 
firm enough to withstand carriage to a distant 
market; besides, they soon change color aud 
look stale long before they are bo iu fact. 
Mrs. Wood, Hildreth, and several other Borts 
closely allied to the above, have been produced 
and disseminated, but they are really worthless, 
except to swoll the list of varieties. 
NATIVE RED RASPBERRIES. 
For many years our small fruit culturists have 
endeavored to And some good variety among the 
many native ones produced from tho wild Rubua 
strigoaus, which iH found growing almost every¬ 
where from Hudson’s Bay in the North down to 
the table lands of Georgia aud Alabama. The 
flavor and color of these varieties are good 
enough, but the oanes do not grow very tall or 
vigorous, but multiply very rapidly by suckers 
from the roots, which become a groat nuisance, 
requiring frequent suppression In order to pre¬ 
vent the parent stoolB or bearing canes from be¬ 
coming crowded. 
But the continued failure of most of tho Eu¬ 
ropean varieties has prompted our fruit growers 
t) repeated trials of the American sorts, and in 
the last few years several have been brought 
NEW YORK CITY, MAY, 5, 1877. 
PRICE SIX CENTS. 
* 2.50 PER YEAR. 
VOL. XXXV. No. IS. \ 
WHOLE No. 1423. ( 
