166 LUTHER BURBANK 



Again, even the most elaborate statistics would 

 entirely fail to present the facts at their true 

 value, because the identity of a plum is often 

 lost through the prevalent custom of renaming 

 varieties. The Abundance plum, as an instance, 

 has been designated "Botan," "Botankio," 

 "Chase," "Yellow Japan," "Douglas," "Oval," 

 and probably by other names by the growers and 

 sometimes also by the nurserymen and dealers. 

 The Wickson plum has been sold under the 

 name "Eureka," and similar liberties have been 

 taken to a greater or less extent with each of the 

 twenty Burbank varieties that are prominent as 

 shipping plums. 



Therefore the figures based on the records of 

 distribution, growth, and sale of a variety are 

 sure to be far below the correct figure. 



But most important of all is the fact that a 

 large part of the entire plum crop is grown 

 for home consumption or for distribution in local 

 markets or shipped by sea, of which no record is 

 available. With the wide distribution of Bur- 

 bank products over the entire world, in many 

 cases in countries where no systematic public 

 records are kept, there are unrecorded benefits, 

 profits, and earnings to the extent of millions 

 of dollars annually, of which no accurate esti- 

 mate can be made. 



