the Snyder; for two, the Snyder and Erie; 
but I prize the Minnewaski nearly as highly. 
1 Middlesex County,"Conn. 
FROM SECRETARY E. WILLIAMS. 
Early Cluster.— Of this I have a few 
plants which have always proven hardy and 
productive. It is also early, but how it com¬ 
pares in this respect with others I cannot say. 
The berries are about the size of Snyder as I 
have seen them elsewhere, and the quality is 
gcod when I pick them myself and I think 
this will apply to all others. 
The Erie, to all intents and purposes, dif¬ 
fers very little from the New Rochelle, save 
in earliness. It is, I think, a week or 10 
days earlier than the Rochelle and fully as 
deceptive in appearing ripe before it really is. 
Minnewaski has not yet fruited with me. 
The Snyder is hardy and immensely pro¬ 
ductive. Its small size is the chief objection 
to it; but a gentleman near Morristown, who 
has several kinds considers it the best of all, 
if grown on very rich ground and severely 
pruned. With this treatment he gets it of 
a very satisfactory size, much larger than I 
have seen it elsewhere. 
The Kittatinny is the best of all I have 
tried or seen; it is large, productive and excel¬ 
lent in quality: but if I eat the berries I must 
pick them myself. From a couple of stray 
plants a few days ago I picked a quart that 
were delicious, reminding me of old times. 
These plants stood in grass and had not been 
pruned nor had they received the least bit of 
attention; but it will not do to say of any 
blackberry I know of that it is ripe when 
black. The Dorchester comes nearer filling 
the bill in this particular than any I have seen. 
As ordinarily picked I invariably pass this 
fruit till canned or cooked, as hard, sour 
blackberries, even if smothered in cream and 
sugar, are repugnant to my taste. If we 
could get a blackberry that was really sweet 
and good when black, it would be a desirable 
acquisition, and my affection for this fruit 
would he stronger. 
Montclair, N. J. 
FROM E. C. BRINSER. 
The Early Harvest is the earliest of 
blackberries. It is veiy productive, of rather 
small size but of good quality and fine appear¬ 
ance and it sells very well when customers get 
to know it. 
' Wilson J unior seems to me to be a failure 
as the vine is a very poor grower and not 
hardy enough. The fruit is large and abun¬ 
dant if the vine doesn’t freeze back; but it is 
of poor quality. I have little faith m it. 
Erie is much better in growth and quality 
of berry and has done fairly well on year-old 
plants. 
Snyder is very productive and of good 
quality; but it bears so heavily that the fruit 
is of rather small size compared to the Kitta¬ 
tinny or Erie. 
Schuylkill County, Pa. 
FROM T. H. HOSKINS, M. D. 
1 have only the Snyder and Sable Queen, 
both of which do well. The latter is the 
larger and better of the two. Hard winters 
kill them both to the snow-line unless laid 
down. 
Newport, Vt. 
FROM MRS. A. L. JACK. 
I intended to speak a good word for the Lu- 
cretia for it has done well with us this year, 
though we did not let it go at its own sweet 
will, but trained it on two wires along the 
row. The berries were plentiful and black. 
We picked them, but, sad to relate, there was 
an after-taste of bitterness in the mouth as 
one feels after eating horehound drops, and 
they w’ill not sell the second time, though large 
and plump. “Leave them till they are fully 
ripe,” some say; we have tried it, but they 
are treacherous, and we do not know when 
they are at that stage. If one happens to get 
as far advanced as to be eatable only the 
mangled remains can be discovered, for the 
birds find them first. No, the Lucretia is not 
all it was boomed to be. 
Quebec, Canada. 
FROM PETER COLBY. 
On account of plenty of wet weather, 
our blackberries—the Wachusett—are very 
large and the bushes are loaded. They 
can be picked more easily than others on ac¬ 
count of the very few thorns they have and 
these are straight, so that they do not cling to 
the clothing, and the vines are perfectly har¬ 
dy, as we live in sight of Wachusett Mountain 
where this variety originated. We think the 
berries sweeter than others and will haye 
over 20 bushels on our piece. I shall try the 
Agawam auother year, but I dread the thorns. 
We ship to Boston. Prices this year so far 
eight and 10 cents per quart. We make a 
clear profit of $2.00 and $2.70 per bushel. 
Does this pay? Yes, better than anything else 
we can raise. We want three or four quarts 
per day for home use and it is about as easy to 
raise one-quarter or one-half an acre and ship 
the surplus, and so get our pay for cultivating 
them. 
Stafford County, N. H. 
IJtotMi from the ituvat 
THE NEWER BLACKBERRIES. 
With photographic illustrations of Minne¬ 
waski, Erie, Early King, Bagnard and Gay- 
nor. 
Early King. —Several plants were received 
from J. T. Lovett of Little Silver, N J., and 
planted April 21, 1888. It is said to be from 
Missouri, and the claim is made that it is re- 
. markably hardy having endured 36 degrees be¬ 
low zero; that it ripens earlier than Early Har¬ 
vest; that it is larger and of delicious sweet¬ 
ness. It began to ripen here one week after 
Early Harvest, whichis the earliest blackberry 
we have ever tried. The berries are of bet- 
ERIE BLACKBERRY. 
ter quality though not so regular as those of 
Lawton. They are better in quality than 
Early Harvest—not so good as Kittatinny. 
The canes are more thorny than those of Kit- 
tatinny. The berries, as shown at Fig. 230, as 
photographed from nature, are of medium 
size. It is rather earlier than Lucretia. Con¬ 
clusions should not bo drawn from a single 
year’s trial. The canes have made a vigorous 
growth. 
Minnewaski. —The first plants were re¬ 
ceived from J. T. Lovett in April of 1887, as 
Mr. A. J. Caywood, the originator, declined 
to furnish them, as he objected to any trial of 
this variety by the R. N.-Y. It was first 
illustrated in the R. N.-Y. (from specimens 
sent to the office by Mr. Caywood) December 
19, 1885, page 869. 
It ripens with the Kittatinny; the berries 
and drupelets average somewhat larger. The 
quality is not quite so sweet. The canes and 
spines are similar. Nothing further can be 
said of its hardiness except that the canes 
have never been injured, though the winters 
have been mild since the plants were sot. We 
regard the Minnewaski for this locality as 
only second to Kittatinny with a probability 
that it is a hardier variety. The illustration, 
from nature, is shown on the first page. 
Bagnard.— Received from E. F. Richman, 
Muscatine, Iowa, March 14, 1887. He writes 
as follows: 
“ It originated on the farm of L. Bagnard 
near Muscatine, and is undoubtedly from the 
seed of Snyder. This is a trying climate. So 
far the Bagnard has shown no signs of injury 
from cold though growing in an exposed sit¬ 
uation.” 
It ripens here nearly with Kittatinny. The 
berries are not so large though larger than 
those of Taylor. Quality not so good as Min¬ 
newaski. The plants are very prolific and 
thus far perfectly hardy. Fig. 232 shows a 
single berry of the average size. 
Bangor. —Received from Chase Bros., 
Rochester, N. Y., April 1886. Excessively 
productive. The bushes are at this tiire 
(Sept. 1st) a mass of berries of small size but 
few of which are ripening. The quality is 
insipid. It is impossible for any blackberry 
to mature such an immense quantity of fruit. 
The canes are hardy. 
Erie. —It is claimed by the introducer for 
this variety that it is earlier than Wilson Jr. 
and combines more points of excellence than 
any other blackberry known. Several well- 
known authorities state that it is the Lawton. 
From Nature. Fig. 229 
It seems to the writer that the canes are 
hardier and that the berries while about Ihe 
same in length are thicker in diameter. It 
ripens this season with Kittatinny. Fig. 229 
shows a photo engraving of an average clus 
ter of berries. 
Topsy. —It ripens with Kittatinny. The 
canes are so beset with thorns that this variety 
is not desirable even though it possessed dis¬ 
tinctive merits which it does not, in so far as 
has been observed. 
Agawam. This was illustrated and de¬ 
scribed in the R N -Y. of August 24. 
Bonanza. —The berries are not quite as 
large as those of Kittatinny with which it 
ripens. Quality not quite so good. 
Gaynor. —From Morris, Stone and Wel¬ 
lington, Welland, Ont., Canada, spring of 
1886. The quality is much that of Kittatinny, 
though the berries do not average so large. 
Very prolific aud hardy. See Fig. 231. 
Fairfax Dewberry.— C. A. Uber, Falls 
Church, Va. Not so prolific as Lucretia; ber¬ 
ries s-nailer. 
Early Harvest is the earliest of the 
blackberries tried here. It is tender to the 
extent that it bears a full crop not ofteuer 
than once in four years. The berries are 
rather small, the drupelets are small but of 
such uniform size that every berry is almost 
a facsimile of every other berry. Firm and 
handsome, but rather insipid. 
Lucretia Dewberry.— This has been al¬ 
lowed a place here ever since May of 1885. 
The berries are large—larger than those of 
Lawton—ot fair quality, ripening before the 
Kittatinny. If allowed to run over the 
ground naturally, one has to stoop low to 
pick them. The difficulty is increased by the 
thorny, entangled vines. If obliged to depend 
upon the Lucretia for our blackberries or go 
without, we should prefer the latter. 
Cut-Leaved, Evergreen or Parsley- 
Leaved Blackberry. —This was received 
from J. M. Ogle, Puyallup, Washington 
Territory, in the spring of 1886. The next 
year it was extensively advertised as a mar¬ 
vel of productiveness, etc. It is not quite 
hardy here, but this season it bears a full crop. 
The leaves are glossy and fernlike. The nu¬ 
merous thorns of the slender, pliant stems in¬ 
cline sharply downward, as sharp and rigid 
as needles. The berries are a glossy, jet 
black, sweet, small to medium in size—the 
drupelets large with large seeds. It is of in¬ 
terest as a curiosity, not without some value 
either for ornament or, one year in five, for 
its fruit. It is a variety of the European 
blackberry—Rubus fruticosus. 
An excellent illustration of the spray and 
fruit appeared in the R. N.-Y. of February 6, 
1886. 
SMALL FRUIT REPORT. 
As I was reading the reports of different 
varieties of strawberries sent in from different 
points, I felt amused at their conflicting na¬ 
ture and thought 1 might as well add mine, 
which will, no doubt, be just as conflicting. 
Our season was one of incessant rains and 
floods. The extremely wet weather brought 
out the berries to their utmost size: but, as a 
natural consequence,they are lacking in qual¬ 
ity. I have land in two tracts not a mile 
apart, and the nature of the soil differs so 
greatly that strawberries at home in the one 
soil nearly fail in the other. The one is a 
loose loam, while the other is a very solid, ten¬ 
acious loam. In the former the Sharpless 
and other varieties of the same nature are at 
home. 
STRAWBERRIES. 
Jessie has fruited with me twice. It is a 
good grower; foliage clean; fruit of high 
quality, firm, of large size, early and of even 
color and the vine is as productive as most 
sorts. This year, however, it was severely 
damaged by tho great floods of rain in the 
early season, but it improved wonderfully 
from the middle to the latter part of the sea¬ 
son. 
Bobach is, IJbelieve, all that is claimed for 
it. None is better in foliage. The fruit is of 
immense size; but only moderately firm; it 
colors evenly, but is medium in quality to my 
taste. The vine is very productive. 
Monmouth is the earliest large berry I have 
yet tested. It is a few days earlier than the 
Crescent or May King. It averaged as large 
in size as Cumberland and yielded twice as 
much. It is of good shape and quality, very 
firm and a very strong grower. 
May King has done remarkably well. The 
fruit if properly grown is of fair size and of 
such fine flavor that I shall continue to grow 
it. It is a little pale in color, but so very firm 
and good that purchasers who know it like it 
very much. It is my favoi ite eating berry in 
the patch on account of its peculiar flavor. 
Gandy’s Prize is the latest variety I have. 
It is a strong ana healthy grower. The fruit 
is of fine form and largo size, firm aud of 
good quality, but with me tho viue is not as 
productive as I desire, but as the fruit ripens 
so late in the season it is valuable on that ac¬ 
count. 
Manchester is very productive and valua¬ 
ble for preserving, but so subject to rust and 
blight that I must drop it. 
Burt I have not fruited, but fiud it a won¬ 
derful grower. 
Cumberland, which is one of our stand- 
byes, has partially failed with me this year. 
I think the wet weather is the cause. 
Crescent I will drop from my list after 
two years’ trial. The fruit is too small aud 
sour. 
Sharpless is more to me (or has been till 
now) than any other variety. It bears so well 
aud the fruit is of such size and quality that 
it sells for more money than auy other kind. 
If I were forced to grow but one variety, it 
would bo the Sharpless, but I am glad we 
have good varieties that are earlier. Of Mam¬ 
moth Seedling, Crimson Cluster, Beliuour, 
Jewell and Charles Downiug I need say uoth- 
ing except that I shall drop them. 
