274 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM 



summer pruned and only cut while the shoots are tender, or so soft 

 that the top can be pinched out; this will cause the top to be well 

 branched and this should be done at least twice during the first year 

 of the graft. This system will avoid long, slender limbs. After a 

 graft is two years old I would never cut the top off of a limb. If a 

 tree gets too thick a top, I would cut out some of the main branches." 



THE PLUMCOTS 



One of the most striking achievements of Mr. Burbank from the 

 fruit grower's point of view is the cross of the plum and the apricot, 

 which he has very fitly named the "plumcot." He has combined in a 

 single fruit enough of the diverse characters of two fruits so that the 

 ordinary observer can recognize the combination clearly and distinguish 

 the gift of each to it. Mr. Burbank has secured several such crosses, 

 the first of which to be made public is the "Rutland," introduced by 

 Mr. George C. Roeding in 1907. The fruit is about the size of an 

 ordinary apricot with a deep purple velvety skin. One of its striking 

 features is the brilliant red flesh possessed of a strong sub-acid flavor 

 rendering it suitable for cooking, jellies and jams, and it is in good 

 demand for such uses. When fully ripe, it is an excellent dessert fruit 

 possessing an apricot-plum flavor. The amalgamation of the apricot 

 and the plum has produced a fruit unique in character, and its economic 

 value is still to be determined by the exploitation of its uses. 



HOW A PRUNE QUEST DISTURBED THE PLUM FAMILY 

 IN CALIFORNIA 



Referring to the distinction between plums and prunes cited at the 

 opening of this chapter, and to the extent and methods of the great 

 prune industry of the State which will appear in Chapter XXXVIII, it 

 may be stated here that the California prune product was obviously 

 undertaken in emulation of the globe-trotting French prune, which 

 had attained position as the leading commercial dried fruit of the world 

 long before California arose on the horticultural horizon. Naturally, 

 French settlers in California bethought themselves of transplanting 

 this great industry to their new home, and Mr. Louis Pellier introduced 

 scions from the district of Agen to his place near San Jose in 1856. 

 the product was good, and planting for a large output was entered 

 upon, though slowly at first. There was disappointment over the fact 

 that, while all fruits came surprisingly large in California, the dried 

 prunes were smaller than the great French prunes in cartons and canis- 

 ters which sold for great prices. Had we secured the true French 

 prune ; did they not have larger ones which they were holding back 

 from us ? This was the great question of five decades ago. Some nur- 

 serymen of that day had spirits of enterprise larger than their con- 

 sciences. If the people demand larger prunes they must have them, 



