82 LUTHER BURBANK 



lar the peach and orange, have other faults that 

 urgently call for correction. 



The peach in particular is a tender and short- 

 lived tree, peculiarly subject to the attacks of 

 insects and to fungoid pests. 



Apparently the developers of this luscious fruit 

 have been so concerned in fostering the re- 

 markable qualities of the fruit itself that they 

 have neglected the tree on which the fruit grows. 

 So the peach orchard, instead of outlasting a 

 human generation as it should, is an ephemeral 

 growth, the individual trees of which are gen- 

 erally in good bearing condition only for a few 

 years, after which they must be replaced. 



The peach grower has often to uproot the 

 dead trees in one part of his orchard and plant 

 new ones in another. 



THE QUESTION OF STAMINA 



Unfortunately the peach is so specialized that 

 it will not thrive on any roots except its own. It 

 should be possible, however at least the project 

 is one that invites the experimenter to develop 

 a more vigorous and longer-lived race of peaches. 

 Something could doubtless be done by mere selec- 

 tion, taking cions for grafting or raising seed- 

 lings from the hardiest and most vigorous trees 

 of the orchard. Probably in successive genera- 



