THE STOXELESS PLUM 41 



predictions verified; the fruit was almost abso- 

 lutely stoneless, only the faintest splinter of 

 stone occasionalh'^ appearing. And combined 

 with this stoneless condition there were qualities 

 of size and flavor that made the fruit practically 

 equal to the French prune. ^Sloreover, as is often 

 the case with hybrids, one strain of which is wild 

 stock, the new plum proved to be a very good 

 bearer. 



So my thought of an ideal plum ha^^ng no 

 stone about its seed was almost achieved. 



I say almost achieved, because there still re- 

 mained, in the case of the plums of best quahty, 

 a fragment of shell which varied from an insig- 

 nificant crescent about one side of the kernel to an 

 almost complete obliteration. There were some 

 individual plants among the numberless seed- 

 lings that bore fruit in which the stone was 

 absolutely eliminated, and in some cases the 

 seed also. 



But it proved extremely difficult to com- 

 bine this quality of entire stonelessness with 

 the desirable qualities of size and flavor, 

 lacking which the fruit could have no practical 

 value. 



Further hybridizing experiments, aimed at the 

 production of an absolutely stoneless plum of 

 fine flavor, are still under way; but in the mean- 



