NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE 



was eating, he pronounced it unquestionably 

 the finest Bartlett pear he had ever tasted. 

 Stranger still, as the plum developed, the tree 

 has taken on much of the character of the 

 Bartlett pear tree in leaf and structure, though 

 why no one can tell, for it has never had the 

 slightest pear tree blood in its veins. 



Still another plum was developed which 

 showed phenomenal bearing qualities, while 

 also being otherwise excellent. It was so 

 tremendously prolific, so to use the words, 

 that its very fecundity stood in its way. Thus, 

 wherever grown, hired "strippers," as they are 

 called, must be engaged to go into the or- 

 chards when the fruit is green and strip the 

 branches of all but just enough plums satis- 

 factorily to mature. From a single tree by 

 actual count 22,000 plums were stripped, 

 enough even then being left on the tree 

 to yield an abundant harvest. 



Another plum which was made over to 

 order, so to speak, has been almost similarly 

 prolific. It was a small, dull-colored, bitter, 

 wild plum, the American beach plum, unfit 

 to eat unless cooked. It was a remarkable 

 plum in many ways, growing on almost any 



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