Nature of Thornless Blackberry Sports

Abstract

Thornless sports of blackberry first became prominent between 1911 and 1918, when the name Cory Thornless Blackberry was trademarked for a thornless sport of Mammoth by W. C. Cory in California; and tip-rooted plants of Cory were sold. In 1929 E. L. Pollard, of Chino, Calif., found that one of six thornless sports of the Young he was observing was very productive. This was introduced in 1930 and patented as Thornless Young. It was widely disseminated as were other productive sports of the Young. In 1931 the writer called attention to a productive thornless sport of the Evergreen blackberry, found and propagated by Philip Steffes, of Oregon, about 1926. This has, since then, steadily replaced the thorny Evergreen in Oregon, Washington and New Jersey. In 1934 the Bauer Thornless Logan was patented and introduced. It was described as differing from Logan in being both earlier and thornless. In 1943 the Bowenberry, apparently identical with Cory, was patented. Thornless Boysen plants have been sold by the trade, but all seen by the writer are identical with Thornless Young.