48 LUTHER BURBANK 



ity, and ultimately to be able to effect fertiliza- 

 tion even though applied some time before the 

 full maturity of the pistils. 



In parts of France the early spring frosts are 

 likely to be very destructive to the ordinary wal- 

 nuts, and the French nut raisers have come to 

 depend largely on the Franquette, a variety 

 already referred to. While this variety is in 

 some respects inferior, it has the one supreme 

 quality of not blossoming until the season of 

 spring frosts is over. It blooms perhaps four 

 weeks later than ordinary varieties. This in- 

 sures a good crop from the Franquette variety, 

 even in years when others have been damaged by 

 frost, so that the average production of this va- 

 riety throughout a term of years may be higher 

 than that of some others that in any given sea- 

 son may surpass it. 



There is opportunity to cross this variety with 

 the other varieties of the Persian walnut that 

 blossom earlier, but produce a better crop of 

 nuts. Such crossing has supplied material from 

 which races have been developed that retain the 

 late-blooming habit of the Franquette, com- 

 bined with the nut-producing qualities of the 

 other parent. 



We have seen that a tendency to bloom late in 

 the season is usually correlative to a tendency 



