196 GARDENING WITH BRAINS "^ 



apricot, apple, pear, lemon, orange, banana, 

 pineapple, and berries of various kinds. Spe- 

 cially notable for flavor are the Nixie and the 

 Geewhiz — the latter so named because a visitor, 

 after biting into one, used that word to express 

 his gustatory delight. 



The "Reds" in the market are among the 

 most interesting. They are descendants of a 

 Satsuma plum which the Japanese call Uchi- 

 Beni (red inside), imported and improved by 

 Burbank. A basket of these is on my table as I 

 write this, filling the room with a fragrance 

 vying and blending with that of a bunch of 

 rose-scented peonies. ^ 



In 1920 Burbank issued a list of new and 

 standard fruit trees, walnuts, and berries 

 marked "Very Special." In this list he describes 

 ten more of his plums, among them "Beauty: 

 the best shipping plum ever produced; great 

 bearer; big, delicious fruit; extra early," and 

 "Thunder Cloud: New. The most beautiful 

 metallic purple crimson foliage ever seen on any 

 tree. Fruit good." On the first page of this 

 list, alas! was this notice: "These will never be 

 offered again, as I shall discontinue the nursery 

 business." 



^ If you have your own orchard and want to try some of the 

 Burbank plums you can get the trees of some of his best varieties 

 (Gold, Early Gold, Santa Rosa, and Indian Blood-Duarte) from 

 Stark Brothers at Louisiana, Missouri. Burbank himself sends no 

 trees East. There are ten varieties of "red inside" plvuns, all of 

 them graduates of the Burbank Academy. 



