BURBANK IN THE ORCHARD 



the hardiness and fine flavor of an American wild 

 plum, and the sweeetness of a European pro- 

 genitor. 



By hundreds of carloads, in the aggregate, the 

 various Burbank hybrid plums are sent to the 

 eastern markets each season. 



One of Mr. Burbank 's most celebrated experi- 

 ments was that in which he hybridized the plum 

 and the apricot, producing a wonderful new fruit, 

 the plumcot. The hybridization was effected with 

 difficulty, because the two strains were so dis- 

 tantly related, but it was finally accomplished, 

 and now there are many varieties of plumcots in 

 the orchards at Sebastopol. 



Among the new varieties that Mr. Burbank has 

 developed by this method, none perhaps has ex- 

 cited more general interest than the stoneless 

 plum. A fruit that exteriorly looks like any other 

 plum, yet which offers no resistance to the teeth 

 when you bite right through it, is obviously some- 

 thing quite out of the ordinary. 



The stoneless plum was developed by a long 

 series of hybridizing experiments in which the 

 original progenitor was a small "freak" plum of 

 acrid and inedible quality, that through some 

 abnormality was partially stoneless. This little 

 plum grew wild in France, and was not consid- 

 ered of any value. Mr. Burbank secured a speci- 

 men, however, and hybridized its blossoms with 

 various cultivated plums. 



The problem was, to breed into the hybrid the 

 qualities of the commercial plum, while retaining 



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