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Concerning orchard improvement Burbank 

 says : "The fruit trees of our fathers and mothers 

 were shade trees in size, with all too little fruit. 

 The ideal orchard of to-day, generally speaking, 

 is the one which can be picked without the use 

 of a stepladder. Thus, already we have taught 

 fruit-bearing plants economy — saved them the 

 extravagance of making unnecessary wood at 

 the expense of fruit, since it is their fruit, not 

 their wood, that we want. . . . Skyscrapers in 

 the orchard do not pay. 



"In the case of the prune, in particular, a 

 low-branching tree is especially to be desired, 

 that the prunes may not be bruised in falling, 

 for even as tough a fruit as the prune may be 

 injured in falling from a tree. 



"The stoneless plum points the way to a new 

 world of fruits in which the stony or shell -like 

 covering of the seeds has been bred away. . . . 

 The coreless apple, pear, and quince, with 

 sheathless seeds growing compactly near the 

 top, out of the way — these are all within the 

 range of accomplishment." 



HOW WE IMPROVE ON NATURE 



Again and again Burbank emphasizes in his 

 writings the fact that there are no secrets about 

 his method of improving plants or creating new 

 kinds, and that he is simply accelerating the 

 processes of nature as revealed by Darwin. Na- 

 ture is too slow and does not always work for the 



