The Boysenberry That Almost Didn't Happen

     This follow blog is an excerpt from my senior thesis at CSU Chico where I achieved my Bachelors Degree in History in May of this year.

     As the Knott family struggled once again to survive during the Great Depression, a single by-chance event turned Walter Knott and his family’s lives down a path of uncontrollable events that led them to fame and fortune.
      In 1932 George M. Darrow, head of the Bureau of Plant Industry with the U. S. Department of Agriculture in Beltsville, Maryland, traveled to Southern California in search of a new enormous sized berry, that he heard rumors of years before. Darrow was looking for a new crop for farmers to produce across the county to help feed people during the depression. A man by the name Rudolph Boysen of Orange County had invented the new berry that was a cross between a loganberry, blackberry, and a raspberry, and produced a larger juicier berry, but did not have much success with it. The problem was that Mr. Boysen could not be located.
     Darrow came to Knott for advice and assistance, because Knott had gained the honorable reputation as the “Berry Man” of Orange County and he thought Knott might know Boysen.  Knott did not, but suggested they look in the phone directory for him, in which they did find a Rudolph Boysen in Anaheim who was the City Park Supervisor for Anaheim. Excited now, the two men went to see Boysen, to ask able the plant, but he created the plant so long ago he did not have any more of it. When asked if he had planted some anywhere else, Boysen did say he planted the last six plants in an old ditch on his orange grove which he had sold. Knott asked if they could go see if they were still there, and Boysen had no problem with it but they had to ask the new land owner. The new owner of the grove had no objection to the search and told the three men if they could find any berry vines, they were welcome to them. The six plants were there but they were half dead and covered in weeds. With Boysen’s blessing, Knott took the vines back to the farm, fertilized and babied the six plants back to health, for three years before getting enough berries and plants to sell to consumers. 

        Once in production Knott discovered the berries were so large that only twenty-five berries would fit in a half pound basket. This new berry that Knott called a Boysenberry in honor of Rudolph Boysen grossed $1,737.50 per acre the first year of full production. Knott then sold the root-stock to nurseries, berry men, and backyard farmers.

     By 1940 boysenberries became a staple on the national market. Walter Knott could have kept the boysenberry as an exclusive Knott product, instead he shared plant stock with other growers, big and small, which helped some small growers get their start.  Today every boysenberry plant can be linked back to those six original plants at Knott’s Berry Place.
Click here to purchase your own boysenberry plant: Boysenberry Plant
This is a great book on Knott's History: Knott's Preserved: From Boysenberry to Theme Park, the History of Knott's Berry Farm
Click here for a pictorial history: Knott's Berry Farm:: The Early Years (Images of America)

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