THE SUGAR PRUNE 141 



Usually the fruits are of all sizes, shapes, and 

 colors. They are sweet, sour, bitter, as the case 

 may be. Some of them crack and others remain 

 smooth. The trees on which they grow are many 

 of them ill-shaped, weakly, or subject to disease. 

 Although the parent form may have been an 

 early ripener, the seedling may produce fruit 

 that ripens so late as to be useless. 



All of which serves to give an inkling of the 

 difficulties that beset the plant experimenter who 

 sets out in pursuit of an ideal prune. 



Moreover, the variety of characteristics re- 

 quired to make up the ideal prune is far greater 

 than the novice might suppose. It is a matter of 

 course that the fruit should be large and well 

 flavored though not too large, lest it become too 

 difficult to dry; and that it should be produced 

 in abundance. 



But there are various equally essential points 

 that the novice might overlook. 



There is, for example, the matter of quality of 

 skin, determining the fitness of the fruit to un- 

 dergo the lye bath which is an essential part of 

 prune curing. 



It is necessary to dip the prunes in this bath, 

 consisting of a solution of potash or lye, in order 

 that the skin may crack in such a way as to per- 

 mit the rapid evaporation essential to quick dry- 



