208 LUTHER BURBANK 



And in fact there is no disputing that the 

 apple is a well-developed fruit. There are vari- 

 eties of almost every supposable size and color 

 and flavor and degree of early or late ripening, 

 as the case may be, and of keeping quality. Yet 

 it would be going much too far to say that noth- 

 ing remains to be done. There are plenty of 

 opportunities for the plant developer in dealing 

 with this fruit, as I shall attempt to show in a 

 moment. 



But before taking up that aspect of the matter 

 in detail it will be worth while to clarify the sit- 

 uation by a few words of comment as to the eight 

 thousand varieties of apples that make such an 

 imposing array on the pages of the cataloguer. 



[VARIETIES VERSUS INDIVIDUAL TYPES 



The average purchaser and consumer of fruit 

 probably has very vague notions as to what is the 

 real status of the particular variety of apple that 

 especially appeals to him. 



He finds his favorite fruit be it Baldwin or 

 Northern Spy or Greening or Cravens tein or 

 what not in the market year after year at a 

 given season. He sees that each fruit is always 

 of approximately the same size, and color, and 

 flavor. The differences between the named vari- 

 eties are so radical that they could not possibly 



