BRAMBLE AND HYBRID BERRIES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23731, 11 February 1939, Page 21

BRAMBLE AND HYBRID BERRIES

♦ SOME REALLY PROFITABLE FRUITS TO GROW ON FENCE OR TRELLIS The common blackberry, and also the numerous bramble fruits allied to it, will be in full bearing during the next few weeks, and it is an appropriate time to take stock of them with a view to planting later on. The right time for this latter operation is in early May, as soon as possible after the leaves fall, and before the ground has become very cold. All the kinds mentioned will succeed in ordinary garden soil that has been well dug and enriched with a little rotted farmyard or stable manure, or, failing this, with decayed garden refuse and a sprinkling of bonemeal. All are fruits of easy culture, delighting in sun and warmth, and succeeding admirably against a fence or trellis with a southerly aspect. The common blackberry itself is hardly sufficiently choice to transplant to the garden, but there are several excellent garden forms which • are well worth their space. One of the first to ripen is Bedford Giant, well named, indeed, for its fruits are half again as big as those of the ordinary blackberry. They colour well, and have the real blackberry flavour. This fine plant won high praise in trials held by the Royal Horticultural Society in their gardens at Wisley, and it has proved consistently successful wherever it has been grown. An Excellent Pair A good companion for Bedford Giant is John Innes, a hybrid raised at the John Innes's Horticultural Institution. This is remarkable for its tremendous cropping capacity, and the lateness with which it ripens. Though it has not the size of Bedford Giant, its berries are large enough, and they have firstrate flavour. Bedford Giant and John Innes between them will keep the table supplied with blackberries from the end of February until May. Yet another first-rate blackberry is Edward Langley. This is an early kind, though not so early as Bedford Giant, and it is notable for the freedom with which it crops and for its first-rate flavour. Recently it has been somewhat elbowed aside by the newcomers, Bedford Giant)

and John Innes, but it is in no way superseded by them, and it would be a great pity if it were allowed to slip entirely into the background. A Vigorous Blackberry The bramble, variously known as Himalayaberry and Himalayan Giant, is not really a true blackberry at all, or, at least, not a variety of the English blackberry. Actually, it appears to be a species owning the name of Rubus procerus, and of European origin. Certainly its name is misleading, for it has nothing to do with the Himalayas. Though it is inferior to the British blackberry in flavour, it is well worth growing, because of its tremendous cropping capabilities and the immense size and handsome appearance of the berries. As a jam-making fruit, it is first-rate. It should 'be given plenty of space, for it is quite capable of making canes ten or twelve feet in length. The parsley-leaved blackberry is an interesting British blackberry, usually given specific rank, and, according to Mr E. A. Bunyard, found wild on Walton Heath, Surrey. It has long been a favourite with gardeners, both on account of its ornamental appearance—the foliage is distinct and elegant, and because it produces with regularity heavy crops of fine sweet berries. It is definitely a good thing. The Wineberry Even more ornamental is the Japanese wineberry, the leaves and stems of which are so thickly set with fine red bristles as to have the appearance of being clothed in plush. The fruits are not large, but they are produced fairly freely, and have a pleasant, slightly acid flavour. Though this berry will never rival the varieties already mentioned from the commercial standpoint, it should certainly be included in every collection if only because of its distinct appearance. It is ripe in March and early April. The loganberry is too well known to need detailed description, and is certainly the most valuable bramble fruit ever introduced to this country from America. Though popularly supposed to be a hybrid between the blackberry and raspberry, there seems to be no real authority for this view; certainly it was not the result of any intentional cross, for it was discovered in a garden in which it had apparently sprung up accidentally. There seems good reason to suppose that, like many other " hybrid" berries, it is nothing more than a form of some imperfectly distinguished species. The rubus family is a large one, and there is still a lot to be done in the accurate classification of its members. Whatever may be J

thought about the origin of the loganberry, however, there can be no two questions as to its utility. Growing freely in all types of soil, it crops with a freedom that even the Himalayaberry can scarcely sur- : pass, and the large, deep red berries make first-rate dessert and even better jam. The Phenomenalberry is very closely allied to the loganberry, and, if we adopt the quite reasonable : view that the former is simply a form of some obscure American species, the*n it is equally reasonable to suppose that the Phenomenalberry is another,form of the same species. -The berries of the Phenomenalberry are said to be a little ' larger than those of the loganberry, though this is not a very secure distinction, as much must depend on cultivation. They are certainly a little darker in colour, and some find them sweeter in flavour, which may or may not be an advantage, according as to how one looks at such things. Other Hybrid Fruits Other interesting hybrid bramble fruits are the lowberry, which suggests a black loganberry; the Veitchberry, said to be the result of a cross between raspberry November Abundance and a blackberry; and the Boysenberry, newly introduced from America. The Veitchberry has much the appearance of the blackberry, but the raspberry has influenced its coloration, and the fruits are purplish or mulberry colour, and not black; its habit is also raspberry-like. Of completely different nature from all the foregoing and a member of the ribes, not the rubus family, is the Worcesterberry. This is the result of a most interesting cross between a gooseberry and a black currant. The fruits suggest small, black gooseberries, and their flavour is somewhere midway between that of the two berries. The foliage is that of the gooseberry, and, unfortunately, it has retained the thorny character as well. It crops well, and is of reasonably vigorous growth —a matter for some surprise, considering its hybrid origin.