146 LUTHER BURBANK 



and combined them in superlative degree, and 

 which, in addition, had the peculiarly desirable 

 quality of ripening about the first of August, two 

 or more weeks in advance of the usual period of 

 the prune harvest. 



This almost perfect prune was placed on the 

 market in 1899 under the name of the Sugar 

 Prune. 



A description of the new fruit was given 

 by Mr. B- M. Le Long, secretary of the 

 California State Board of Horticulture, as 

 follows : 



"The Sugar prune is an extremely early prune, 

 ripening August 1 ; it grows superbly with yellow 

 flesh, tender, and rich in sugar. The skin is very 

 delicate, at first of a light purple tinted with 

 green, changing at maturity to dark purple, cov- 

 ered with a thick white bloom. The form is ovoid, 

 slightly flattened, measuring five by six and a 

 half inches in circumference, average size fifteen 

 to a pound, which is two or three times larger 

 than the French prune; the fruit stalk is short, 

 and severs very easily from the stem as the fruit 

 reaches maturity; the pit is of medium size, flat- 

 tened, slightly wrinkled and most often separated 

 from the flesh ; the skin is so thin or porous that 

 the fruit begins to shrink on the tree as soon as 

 ripe." 



