LUTHER BURBANK 



whatever because they failed to stand the acid — 

 or to be literal the alkali — test. 



So the experimenter is always confronted with 

 the possibility of failure at the very last, even 

 when his efforts seem to have met with complete 

 success at the earlier stages. With the utmost 

 solicitude, therefore, he must watch the fruit as it 

 passes through the potash bath. 



If the skin peels from the fruit instead of 

 cracking, that particular variety is worthless, no 

 matter what its other good qualities. 



Moreover, the cracks in the skin must be very 

 small and numerous. If they are too far apart 

 by the hundredth of an inch the prune will have 

 a rough appearance that mars it from the com- 

 mercial standpoint. If the skin is too thin, so that 

 in gathering and handling the fruit is bruised, it 

 can never make a commercial prune. But on the 

 other hand, the skin must not be too thick as then 

 it would not be properly cut by the lye. In a 

 word, there must be the most nicely balanced 

 qualities of the skin of the fruit, and without this 

 final touch, the prune is a failure, even though it 

 grows to seeming perfection on the tree. 



The intrinsic qualities, in addition to perfection 

 of skin, that I aimed at from the outset, were large 

 size, increased production of sugar, and early 

 ripening. 



[246] 



