172 PLANT-BREEDING 



cultivated in California and is a most delicious preserve on 

 account of its sweet flesh and small pits. The Burbank 

 plum, on the other hand, is one of the best and most popular 

 Japanese plums throughout all the United States, it is early 

 and heavy bearing, free from insects and diseases, and a 

 market fruit of large size and attractive color. 



Other species needed only sowing on a large scale and a 

 selection of the best individuals, and could then be intro- 

 duced without artificial improvement. The common French 

 prune, of which California has produced one hundred and 

 fifty millions pounds of dried produce in a year, is a small 

 fruit and late in ripening, although it is rich in sugar. In 

 order to enlarge the size and to change the time of ripening, 

 Burbank sowed large numbers of seeds of this French prane 

 d'Agen, grafted the seedlings on older trees in order to force 

 them to yield their fruits soon, and finally chose among the 

 thousands of grafts the type which is now known as the 

 sugar primes, a large fruit ripening a month earhcr and 

 proHfic in bearing. In the same way, the crimson rhubarb, 

 or mammoth pie plant, was secured which is now grown on 

 a large scale all around Los Angeles, whence it is shipped, 

 during the wdnter months, to the markets of New York. 

 It is a continuous bearer throughout a large part of the year 

 and has a pecuharly delicate flavor. It was sent to Santa 

 Rosa by Messrs. D. Hay and son, nurserymen in Auckland, 

 New Zealand, about fourteen years ago. Burbank sowed the 

 seeds on a large scale, and selected the best type for intro- 

 duction as soon as he perceived its excellent quaUties. 

 Among flowers, the Australian star flower or everlasting 

 (Cephalipterum Drummondii) is now being introduced after 

 only a few years of multiplication and selection. It is a 

 composite, and its apparent flowers are, in reahty, flower 

 heads, the bright red color of which is due to the bracts of 

 their involucres, as m other species of everlastings. It is 



