27 SEPTEMBER 1940, Page 11

Kindly Fruits The popularity of the wild blackberry has perhaps

never been so manifest as this autumn. The better part of the rural popula- tion has been about the hedgerows and has found a most welcome harvest. It is still a common superstition that it must not be gathered later than September. There are fifty or more sorts of blackberry and they differ greatly in virtue. To my taste the newer cultivated sorts (of which Wilson junior is one of the best) hardly equal the wild in savour, but they have a much larger proportion of pulp to pip and are as well worth cultivation as the logan itself. Since they flower and fruit freely and carry a pretty ivy-like leaf, they are quite comely enough to use on an ornamental pergola. They have the advantage of needing no protection. I have seen a pheasant and a dog eat the berry, but in general they are left surprisingly free from attack.

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