I am inclined to think, however, that she has had her day, even as an attendant on royalty, for a new variety, claiming the high-sounding title of Golden Queen, has mysteriously appeared.  I say mysteriously, for it is difficult to account for her origin.  Mr. Ezra Stokes, a fruit-grower of New Jersey, had a field of twelve acres planted with Cuthbert raspberries.  In this field he found a bush producing white berries.  In brief, he found an Albino of the Cuthbert.  Of the causes of her existence he knows nothing.  All we can say, I suppose, is that the variation was produced by some unknown impulse of Nature.  Deriving her claims from such a source, she certainly has a better title to royalty than most of her sister queens, who, according to history, have been commonplace women, suggesting anything but nature.  With the exception of the Philadelphians, perhaps, we as a people will not stand on the question of ancestry, and shall be more inclined to see how she “queens it.”

Of course the enthusiastic discoverer and disseminators of this variety claim that it is not only like the Cuthbert, but far better.  Let us try it and see; if it is as good, we may well be content, and can grace our tables with beautiful fruit.

There is another American species of raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) that is almost as dear to memory as the wild strawberry—­the thimble-berry, or black-cap.  I confess that the wild flavor of this fruit is more to my taste than that of any other raspberry.  Apparently its seeds have been sown broadcast over the continent, for it is found almost everywhere, and there have been few children in America whose lips have not been stained by the dark purple juice of its fruit.  Seeds dropped in neglected pastures, by fence and roadsides, and along the edges of the forest, produce new varieties which do not propagate themselves by suckers like red raspberries, but in a manner quite distinct.  The young purple canes bend over and take root in the soil during August, September, and October.  At the extreme end of the tip from which the roots descend a bud is formed, which remains dormant until the following spring.  Therefore the young plant we set out is a more or less thick mass of roots, a green bud, and usually a bit of the old parent cane, which is of no further service except as a handle and a mark indicating the location of the plant.  After the ground has been prepared as one would for corn or potatoes, it should be levelled, a line stretched for the row, and the plants set four feet apart in the row.  Sink the roots as straight down as possible, and let the bud point upward, covering it lightly with merely one or two inches of soil.  Press the ground firmly against the roots, but not on the bud.  The soil just over this should be fine and mellow, so that the young shoot can push through easily, which it will soon do if the plants are in good condition.  Except in the extreme South, spring is by far the best time for planting, and it should be done early,