LUTHER BURBANK 



a market fruit has been illustrated at some length 

 in the preceding chapter. In this respect, most 

 plums are at least as complex as the cherry, and 

 the requirements in the case of the "perfect" 

 prune are even more exacting. 



The word prune, it should perhaps be 

 explained, is applied in California to any plum 

 that can be dried with the stone in place without 

 fermentation of the pulp. The quality that per- 

 mits such drying is largely dependent on the 

 amount of sugar that the fruit contains. There 

 are prunes and prunes, as even the most 

 unpracticed observer must know, and there are 

 gradations of size, flavor, and sugar content that 

 are vastly important from the standpoint of the 

 orchardist and by no means without interest from 

 the standpoint of the consumer. 



One of the tasks I early set myself was to 

 produce a prune that should excel all others in 

 the qualities, singly and combined, that make for 

 perfection in this valuable fruit. I think I 

 may fairly claim to have accomplished that end, 

 although I shall not pretend that my ideal of a 

 perfect prune has thus far been quite attained. I 

 am not sure that I should be over-pleased if it 

 had been; one does not really wish to reach the 

 end of a trail, leaving nothing to strive for, no 

 unknown territory to explore. 



[240] 



