The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1905-07-26


Everywhere, and all over the world,
there are thousands who are reaching
out eagerly, often vainly, for the
means Of increasing their income
without leaving their homes. There
are 50 many, SO very many, whose
duties c0n6ne them TO the narrow
limits of their own households, who
vet ycarn to do something, to make
life brighter and easier for their dear
ones. Often, too, there is something
that these willing hands could do in
this direction, once the way was point
ed out.
Those who have little plot of
land at their dispo0al, even though it
be no more than village garden, or
even an odd corner, chn help along
small family income b. the cultiva-
tion of one of our choicest, yet most
neglected fruits, the blackberry. The
bramble, as it is often called in Eu'
rope, the rubus fruiticosus, of the
botanist, is not without it's thorns,
like many another good thing, but it's
fruit is Of the best, and worth brav-
ing the thorns in order to obtain it.
It ie found almost all over the world.
and in almost all locations, except in
swamps, as it likes dry, sunny places.
The berry has been known and valued
among all people and in all ages.
Pliuy mentions mulberry that
grew on brier, and this was doubt
less a choice blackberry, since no
species Of mulberry ever did grow on
a brier. The family Of brambles or
blackberries, is divided into those
with upright stems, and those that
lie PROSTATE on the ground, and
those with hcrbaccous stems. There
is o species common in the hedges of
England that has tough stems, and
is much used for thatching roofs Of
cottages, and for making straw-hives
and mats. The berries of this species,
called the fructiosus, are cooling and
pleasant to the taste, if eaten as soon
as they are ripe, but just before this
they are acid and astringent, and just
after, or when over ripe, the flavor is
disagreeable and astriugent. We
have none of this sort in the United
States, and can get along very we'll
without them.
Our blackberries and dewberries,
which are frat cousins, are equally
worthy of each other, and of our
better acquaintance, are oil about us,
and we have often wondered how it
is that our people have not seen the
gold glittering at their feet, in the
midst Of these free treasures Of the
woodlands and old fields. 1t may be
for the very reason th4i ere 80
common, and, as we saio Just now.
that we arc so prone to overlook our
nearest blessings, and try to grasp
something further off. These berries
are about the only wild fruit we have
of any importance, except in some
localities, the blue berries, but they
are usually plentiful and of good size
and flavor.
But it is just because they are
wild and plentiful that very few
persons have ever thought it worth
while to cultivate them. This is o
great mistake. The strawberry grows
wild in some parts of the country.
IF our horticultural ancestors had
for this reason, been content to let
them go at that, and to gather the
berry as nature made it in the fields
and low lands, where would be our
immense strawberry crops Of today I
The best OF these wild berries were
taken up, placed in garden lands,
cultivated, fertilized, hybridized,
and so they grew larger and larger,
year by year, and with different
characteristios. Some were late in
ripening, some were early, some with
one favor, some with another, until
the little wild berry could never
recognize is descendant, not even as
q distant cousin.
And thus it would be with our
blackberries Of the South. So it has
been, and is, with the blackberries Of
&ae 2s3cc:.a. Long sgo some Of the
wild plants there were civilized, and
brought into subjection, enlarged, i'm
proved in every vay, classified And
named, and placed on the markets at q
good profit to the nurseryman and to
the grower. There are many varieties
Of the wild plants to choose from,
varieties that have been self-hybridiz'
ed, and self-soyn. Some are sweet