LUTHER BURBANK 
bright red of the apricot, nor the pale yellow of 
the plum, but was of an intermediate shade. 
Of the thousands of characteristics of the 
parent species as they were subjected to examina- 
tion and analysis, the most startling was found in 
the surface texture of the fruit itself—one of the 
most novel effects, in fact, to be seen in all Nature. 
The apricot has a fine velvety skin which serves 
not only as a protection to the fruit from insects 
and from the sun’s withering rays, but which adds 
greatly to its attractive appearance. 
Plums, usually, are overspread with a delicate 
white or bluish bloom, powdery in form, easily 
defaced by the slightest handling. This bloom 
adds a touch of delicacy and beauty to the fruit, 
suggests its freshness, and intensifies the attrac- 
tiveness of the colors underneath. 
In the early plumcots it was noticed that many 
had a softer, more velvety skin than the apricot, 
and that this persisted after much handling. 
Then, as the characteristics began to settle, after 
several generations of plumcots had appeared, it 
was noticed that the new fruit not only had the 
attractive velvety skin of the apricot, but that 
this velvet overspread and protected a bloom like 
that of the plum, giving the plumcot the plum’s 
delicacy of appearance, with the apricot’s hardi- 
ness to handling. 
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