The Watchman And Southron

Thornless Blackberries.

I have heard of thornless blackberries having been discovered in North Carolina and along the eastern coast, but unfortunately the berries were not of any use for food. I have also grown so-called, but not by any means thornless, ones 40 years ago. Electricity was also known for thousands of years, but it was worthless until developed. Steam was also useless as an aid in performing the labor of mankind until some one made it useful. It is the same with the thornless blackberry. It is now productive: delicious to eat, large and in every way valuable for food, and absolutely smooth like the twig of an apple tree. There are seedless apples in existence today, but none of them are of any commercial value. There was once a so-called stoneless plum, but it was not larger than a large bean, and was not fit for human food. The bush was an ill-shaped thorny one and the fruit absolutely useless. Now there are, growing on my farms, splendid prunes and plums which are stoneless. Nature gives us a hint and it is man's business to carry out the work to produce results.

-Luther Burbank in the Christian Herald.