1878 .] 
AMERICAN BLACKBERRIES AND RASPBERRIES.—YUCCA FILAMENTOSA VARIEGATA. 
87 
fairly started on a fruitful habit of growth ; 
and the sooner in the life of the tree this ten¬ 
dency can be induced, the less liability will 
there be of its breaking out into an over- 
luxuriant state, and thus the operation of root- 
pruning will become unnecessary.—J ohn Cox, 
lledleaf. 
AMERICAN BLACKBERRIES 
AND RASPBERRIES. 
HAVE had sent me during the past autumn 
<5| from America, a Blackberry, named the 
Kittatinny , said to be one of their best 
sorts; likewise a Raspberry named the Reliance , 
said to be a new seedling lately sent out, a 
great bearer, and of a large size and fine flavour. 
I intend giving them a fair trial, but whether 
it is that our climate does not suit American 
Blackberries, I have never been able to grow 
the Lawton variety satisfactorily. In America, 
both Blackberries and Raspberries, as we learn 
from the horticultural publications, are grown 
now in immense quantities, to supply the 
markets. The Strawberry is likewise in great 
demand, and numbers of new seedlings are yearly 
advertised for sale by nurserymen and others. 
We have in our Parsley-leaved Blackberry a 
variety well worthy of being more cultivated 
than it is, for its fruit is considerably larger 
than the wild sort, and better flavoured. It 
can be grown, like Raspberries, in rows, tied 
to stakes in the same way, and not allowed 
to ramble about too much. In growing it, I 
usually select young shoots from the old plants, 
and put in a fresh row or two every autumn, 
so as always to have the plants in a good bear¬ 
ing state, as the old shoots get too large and 
unproductive after a few years’ growth. One 
of the best preserves I know of is made from 
the fruit of the Blackberry, mixed with a few 
rather acid apples.— William Tillery, 
Welbech. 
YUCCA FILAMENTOSA 
VARIEGATA. 
F the many variegated subjects that 
have been brought into more general 
notice since the merits of fine-leaved 
plants became fully appreciated in this country, 
there are few that attain a medium size more 
beautiful, or more deserving of cultivation, 
than this. If proof were wanting as to the 
influence which fashion lias upon demand, and 
through that upon value, I could not point to a 
better plant than this to afford it, for though 
it has been long in cultivation, and for the 
last twenty years has been propagated as 
quickly as the means and knowledge of tho 
many who have taken it in hand would per¬ 
mit of, it is yet both scarce and dear, small 
trade plants bei-ng worth a guinea, and I have 
known within the last few years as much as 
twenty guineas paid for a fine, fully grown 
example. 
It is, in all probability, a sport from the 
American green-leaved species, I", filamentosa , 
but how or where tho variegated form originated, 
I have not been able to learn. The plant, 
like a few others in cultivation, is extremely 
exceptional, in a property which few repre¬ 
sentatives of the vegetable kingdom pos¬ 
sess,—that is, its ability to thrive well 
continuously under a very wide range of 
temperature. It is hardy in most places 
throughout this country, where the soil is not of 
an exceptionally damp, retentive description, 
or the humidity is such as to induce growth of 
a character not calculated to withstand our 
severest frosts. Yet although thus hardy, it 
will bear keeping altogether in a temperature 
almost as high as most plants in cultivation, 
provided it is accommodated with a light 
position, and not too much darkened by over¬ 
shading, or the light obscured by other plants 
overhanging it. So far from suffering through 
a high temperature, it attains a size and beauty 
in proportion very much greater than it can 
possibly arrive at by open-air culture. In fact, 
the best specimens I have ever seen out-of- 
doors are altogether wanting in the graceful 
curvature of the leaves, the pure white in their 
variegation, and do not attain to more than a 
fourth of the size of plants subjected to stove 
treatment. 
As might naturally be supposed, its growth 
out-of-doors is very much slower than when in 
heat, neither can it be increased at anything 
like the same rate in tho open air. It propa¬ 
gates readily from root-cuttings, which may be 
taken off at different times in the year, but I 
have found about the end of July the best, in¬ 
asmuch as the season’s root-growth about this 
time (I am of course now speaking of plants 
grown in heat), is sufficiently matured for the 
purpose. Another advantage is that the plants 
