THE COLORADO RASPBERRY INDUSTRY 
By R. vS. HERRICK AND E. R. BENNETT. 
The raspberry is one of the best known small fruits. In its wild 
state it has been used as food since the beginning of history. This 
fruit belongs to the family of brambles of which there are many 
hundred species. The raspberries of commerce are mostly included in 
three species. These three species are divided between two quite 
distinct types, the reds and blacks. 
The European red raspberry, Rubus Idaeus, is little grown in 
this country. The fruit is similar to the American red raspberry in 
appearance, of better quality, but the plants are less hardy. The 
early attempts at red raspberry culture in this country were largely 
confined to the development of this species but these have never 
succeeded because the species is not adapted to our climatic con¬ 
ditions. 
The American red raspberry, Rubus strigosus, is of comparatively 
recent domestication. In the wild state it is found more or less over 
the northern and eastern United States. One variety of this species 
is native in the higher altitudes of the Rocky Mountains. This wild 
raspberry of the mountains is far superior in quality to the domesti¬ 
cated berry or to the wild berry of the East. Up to the present time 
however nothing has been done to improve or acclimate the berry 
to cultivated conditions. 
The black raspberry, Rubus occidentals, is also native to the 
northern and eastern United States. The black raspberry of com¬ 
merce is practically the same as the wild berries of the fields. This 
species is commercially the most important of the raspberries. 
Another species, Rubus neglectus, is a hybrid of the American red 
and black raspberry. This species is relatively unimportant. It is 
represented by what is known as the purple cane berries. 
The raspberry has reached its greatest commercial importance 
in the northeastern states. This is because the fruit demands a cool 
climate and a loose, moist soil with an abundance of humus. In a wild 
state both the red and black varieties are found at their best on newly 
cleared timber lands of the eastern and central states. Land from 
which timber has been removed in the East is nearly always first 
occupied by the raspberry brambles. After the surface humus becomes 
more or less exhausted these bushes disappear. 
The great drawback to raspberry growing either in a wild or 
cultivated state is the droughts that are apt to occur at time of ripen¬ 
ing. jEor this reason the culture of this fruit has been to a great 
extent confined to those regions of sheltered timber lands and plenti- 
