30 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
to the postal service of the United States, except for scientific 
purposes by permission or direction of the Secretary of Agri¬ 
culture, for transportation from one state or territory or the 
District of Columbia into any other state or territory or the 
District of Columbia any trees, plants, buds, cuttings, grafts, 
scions or nursery stock which have not been examined in ac¬ 
cordance with the provisions in Sections 5 and 6 of this Act, 
or which on said examination have been declared by the in¬ 
spector to be dangerously infested with injurious insects or 
diseases. Any person, persons or corporation violating the pro¬ 
visions of this Section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and 
upon conviction thereof shall be punished for such offense as 
provided in Section 6 of this Act. 
Sec. 8. That whenever it shall appear to the Secretary of 
Agriculture that any state, territory, district, corporation, 
firm or person shall have provided proper and competent in¬ 
spection and treatment in accordance with the provisions of 
this \ct for the objects above specified as being subject to in¬ 
spection and treatment, he may by proclamation or otherwise 
accept such inspection and treatment in lieu of inspection 
and treatment by officers appointed by himself, which accepta¬ 
tion or proclamation by the said Secretary of Agriculture, 
shall relieve all such articles specified in Sections 5, 6 and 7 
of this Act, when properly stamped or labelled, from further 
quarantine or restrictions in inter-state commerce. 
Sec. 9. That the sum of fifty thousand dollars or so much 
thereof as may be necessary is hereby appropriated out of any 
moneys in the treasury of the United States not otherwise ap¬ 
propriated to carry into effect the provisions of this act. 
Sec. 10. This law shall take effect on and after the first day 
of July, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven. 
RATHBUN BLACKBERRY. 
Of the Rathbun blackberry represented in the frontispiece 
of this issue, James Vick’s Sons, Rochester, N. Y., say : It 
is with a sense of satisfaction and pleasure that we offer to the 
trade a new fruit of the highest quality, and which has 
previously been brought to notice in various publications. 
The Rathbun blackberry is admired by every one who has 
seen it, and only awaits to be known to be universally appre¬ 
ciated. No one who has seen it has been able to criticise it. 
We have now watched it with the greatest interest for three 
years, and are not able to say that it has a single weak point. 
Believing that in introducing it we are advancing the interest 
of fruit growers and the general public, we have no hesitation 
in asking a consideration of its claims. Its quality is so 
superior that it will seem like a new kind of fruit to those ac¬ 
customed to any of the old and well known varieties. 
The Rathbun blackberry has already become known, and 
has established a high reputation locally, and the fruit has 
brought a much higher price than any other blackberry in the 
market at the time. The plant is a strong, erect grower, and, 
unlike most varieties., produces but few suckers. It sends up 
a strong main stem which branches freely, and these branches 
curve over and bend downward toward the ground, and later 
in the season the tips touching the ground send roots down 
into it, and thus propagate themselves in the manner of the 
blackcap raspberry. It is not a dewberry, nor is there the 
least evidence that there is an admixture of dewberry in the 
plant, as no dewberries were cultivated on the place or in the 
neighborhood. It is purely a blackberry with the tip rooting 
habit. As to its hardiness it maybe said that it is quite hardy 
at its home, where it has sustained a temperature of fifteen or 
eighteen degrees below zero without harm. There is no reason 
to doubt that it is as hardy as most varieties. 
The fruit of the Rathbun grows on long stems in clusters 
which enables it to be easily gathered. The berries are 
large with large pips and small seeds. They have no hard 
core, in fact no core is perceived in eating them—all is soft, 
sweet, luscious, with a high flavor. It is superior to all the 
well-known varieties of blackberry in cultivation, in quality. 
On this point it may be said there is nothing more to be de¬ 
sired, and it is not probable that there will ever be a variety 
to surpass it in this particular. The fruit is a jet black color 
with a high polish, and sufficiently firm to handle and carry 
well. It has been sent a distance of some thirty-six miles, by 
wagon and rail, going through in fine condition and selling in 
preference to the best other varieties in the market and bring¬ 
ing a considerably better price. The fruit has attained quite 
a local reputation, and every year it is more in demand, and at 
higher prices than other varieties of blackberries. A large 
proportion of the berries will measure from an inch and a 
quarter to one inch and a half in length, and the whole crop 
is very uniform in size. Every one who had the opportunity 
of tasting the fruit admits without reserve that it is the best 
blackberry ever eaten, and is more like the best dewberry than 
the blackberry, and yet much better than the dewberry. The 
fruit offered for sale in the market sells in preference to any 
other kind and brings a higher price. The hardiness of the 
plant was severely tested in the winters of 1895-96, when the 
thermometer for several days indicated a temperature of 20 
degrees below zero. Plants of the Minnewaski and Erie 
blackberries on the same grounds were badly frozen, making 
it impossible for them to produce a crop of fruit. But a con¬ 
siderable amount of live wood remained on the Rathbun 
bushes, enough to give two-thirds of a crop. 
Two common, quart strawberry boxes, one each of the 
Snyder and Rathbun varieties were picked in August, 1896, 
and placed in the hands of a wholly disinterested party, Mr. 
Lawson York, ex-postmaster of Smith’s Mills, N. Y., with a 
request to count and report the exact number of berries in 
each basket. When he had done so, it was found the basket 
of Snyder contained 164 berries, while that of the Rathbun 
was filled with forty-five berries. One of these berries of the 
Rathbun was, at the same time, measured before witnesses and 
found to be one and three-fourth inches in length and one 
and three-eighths in diameter. 
Among the many letters of commendation is the following : 
Cornell University, College of Agriculture. 
L. H. Bailey, Professor of Horticulture. 
Ithaca, N. Y., July 21, 1896. 
The Rathbun blackberry is now in full fruit and we are very much 
pleased with it. It is midway between a blackberry and a dewberry 
in habit as also in earliness. The berries are exceedingly large, glossy, 
jet black, and of good quality. I certainly think that there is a future 
for it. 
L. H. Bailey. 
BEST for nurserymen. 
F. C Edwards, Fort Atkinson, Wis. —“I consider your journal 
the best for nurserymen of any in the United States. You may book 
my name for the year. ” 
