LUTHER BURBANK 
the California plant developer may be cited as 
showing that nearness to market is by no means 
an ahsolute essential. For of course it is well 
known that the California fruits are now chiefly 
grown for shipment to the Atlantic seaboard. So 
nearness to a railroad is even more important, as 
hauling fruit for any great distance before it is 
packed for eastern shipment is a great detriment 
to its shipping and keeping qualities. 
Except in a few cases, like that of the prune, 
it is always necessary for the California plant 
developer to consider the shipping quality of his 
fruit. A fruit to be shipped a long distance must 
be of firm flesh, a good color, and a reasonably 
tough skin. And especially it should be uniform 
in size and of such shape as to admit of econom- 
ical packing. Moreover, it should ripen at a season 
when the same kind of fruit is not abundant in 
the distant market. 
So it may happen that a fruit otherwise valu- 
able may lack this essential marketing quality, 
and hence must be avoided. This is the reason 
why my Abundance plum is not so popular in Cal- 
ifornia as it is in the Eastern States, as it will not 
stand a long shipment so well as other varieties. 
To the eastern fruit grower this is not important, 
as he lives near the market. But from the Califor- 
nia standpoint, such plums as the Wickson, the 
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