Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/226

 210 RASPBERRY herbaceous, and unimportant species. 3. Spe- cies with biennial, woody, and prickly stems, and three to five foliolate compound leaves. The common wild red raspberry is found from Newfoundland to Oregon, and as far south as the middle states. The upright stems are bris- tly and prickly ; the leaves, with three to five oblong-ovate, serrate leaflets, are covered on the under side with a white down ; the petals as long as the sepals, the fruit light red. This species is abundant northward, especially on recently cleared lands, where it produces frwit in great profusion all summer. The garden raspberry of Europe, R. Idceus, is so very near this that it is difficult to find good botanical characters to separate them ; this species has been improved by raising seedlings under cul- tivation ; varieties derived from it are the Al- len, Kirtland, scarlet, and others. The plant propagates itself abundantly by underground stems, which run beneath the surface for sev- eral feet and appear above ground as suckers ; these stems grow to their full height, 5 or 6 ft., in one season, bear their fruit the next sum- mer, and then die ; the European raspberry lias a similar manner of growth, and the culti- vation of the varieties of this species is the same as given below for that. The black rasp- berry, R. occidentals, also called blackcaps and thimbleberry, is more widely distributed than the red, extending as far south as Georgia; it has prickly stems with a glaucous bloom; leaflets mostly three and white underneath ; the petals shorter than the sepals ; the fruit black, with whitish varieties, ripe in July, drier than the red, and with a distinct and pecu- liar flavor. In manner of growth this is very different from the red raspberry ; it makes no distant suckers, but new shoots spring up from the base of the old plant, and late in summer the branches, which grow very long, become recurved, until finally their tips reach the ground, where they take root and form new plants; in cultivation this process is aided by covering the ends of the branches with a little earth. Within the past 20 years much atten- tion has been given to cultivating varieties of this species, and they are now very popu- lar. Among the cultivated sorts are Doo- little's, Seneca, Davidson's thornless, Miami or Mammoth cluster, and the whitecap. In cultivating for fruit, the stems are stopped by pinching when about 3 ft high, and the side branches are also stopped, forming a compact branched bush, which will bear a great quan- tity of fruit ; but if it is desired to multiply plants, the branches are allowed to grow, bend over, and reach the ground as described above. There is a set of native raspberries which appear to have escaped the attention of bota- nists, but are well known to cultivators as the purple-cane family ; the plants have the habit of growth of the black, but the fruit, though dark-colored, resembles in form and flavor the red raspberry ; it has been suggested that these have originated by hybridizing the black and red species. They are not so high-flavored as the red kinds, but as they bear profusely and do not sucker, they are better adapted to small gardens; the varieties are purple cane, Cata- wissa, Ellisdale, and a few others. The garden raspberry, R. Idceus, so named from Mount Ida, is found all over Europe and in Russian Asia; it only differs from our native red species in being a taller plant, with thicker leaves and firmer, larger, and better fruit. This species was cultivated by the Romans in the 4th cen- tury, and the oldest English writers on rural matters mention it, some giving both a red and a white kind. There are over 50 varie- ties in the fruit lists, very few of which are generally cultivated ; among the most popular kinds are those which have been raised in this country from seed. The berry with which the New York market is mainly supplied is the Hudson River Antwerp, a red variety of un- known (though supposed English) origin ; im- mense quantities are brought from various lo- Earopean Raspberry (Rubus Idteus). calities along the Hudson, and it has not yet been superseded by any other; among the other popular varieties of this class are Belle de Fon- tenay (with many synonymes), Clarke, Dow- ning, Fastolff, Franconia, Hornet, Brinckle's orange, and Philadelphia. The last named is by some regarded as a native; it is a great bearer even on poor soils, and, though not of first quality, is one of the most profitable. These varieties are propagated by suckers, which most of them produce in abundance ; after the sucker has grown a year it is separa- ted from the parent plant, and, its stem being cut back to a few inches, is taken up for plant- ing. A plantation is made in autumn or very early in the spring, setting the plants, accord- ing to the vigor of the variety, 4 to 6 ft. apart each way ; two or three shoots are allowed to grow from the plant the first season, and not more than six thereafter ; they are supported by tying to stakes, or to wires stretched along the rows; the shoots bear fruit the second