BURBANK PLUMS 351 



all about me for better varieties of plums 

 and prunes, especially for drying and shipping 

 purposes. 



The work as a nurseryman had taught me how 

 urgent was this demand. I determined to under- 

 take to meet it on a broad and comprehensive 

 scale. To lay the foundation for the real work 

 in plums to get the stock together, gain experi- 

 ence and knowledge as to the different species 

 and varieties, and test out their possibilities 

 was the work of twelve or thirteen years. In- 

 deed, I may say that the work is still going on 

 after the lapse of almost thirty-seven years. 



Yet I began to get conspicuous results almost 

 at the outset, as will appear presently. 



THE PLUM AS SCHOOLMASTER 



In order that the work should be carried out 

 as conceived, it was necessary that the various 

 plums and prunes of the world should be brought 

 together and, as it were, put into one melting 

 pot, in which a vast number of hereditary ten- 

 dencies could be combined and recombined in- 

 definitely. The right characters must be selected 

 and wrong ones rejected. Out of the melange 

 would arise new varieties better fitted to meet the 

 old requirements, or adapted to meet altogether 

 new requirements. 



