THE SUGAR PRUNE 



had been expected, and among the seedlings were 

 some that produced fruit of superior quality. 

 Four years later, at the meeting of the California 

 State Horticultural Society, I had the pleasure of 

 exhibiting no fewer than seventy varieties of these 

 crossbred seedlings. And in 1893 two new plums 

 were introduced as representing the best selection 

 among the almost myriad forms of the hybrid 

 progeny. 



One of these new plums was named the Giant, 

 the other the Splendor. 



The former is a handsome plum practically 

 intermediate in qualities between the original 

 parents. It has peculiar value as a shipping plum, 

 and in particular it gained popularity with the 

 canners because its skin has the property of rolling 

 away from the fruit when placed in boiling water, 

 leaving the rich, honey-colored flesh. But these, 

 of course, are not the qualities desired in the 

 prune. 



The other variety, named the Splendor, is 

 about one-third larger than the common French 

 prune and contains something like five per cent, 

 more sugar; its quality and flavor are also 

 superior. It has, moreover, the drying qualities 

 of the prune, and it was freely predicted by 

 many who knew it that it would soon completely 

 displace its French progenitor. 



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