THE SUGAR PRUNE 139 



The French prune, while not without its good 

 points, is by no means a perfect fruit. It is a 

 clingstone, which is a serious defect in a prune. 

 Moreover, the stone itself is rather large in pro- 

 portion to the flesh. The fruit ripens too late 

 to be profitable in some parts of the country, 

 and the risk of having the crop destroyed by 

 the early rains is a serious defect everywhere. 

 Neither is the tree a strong grower, or a very 

 reliable producer, or of the most symmetrical 

 growth. 



It occurred to me, therefore, when I first took 

 the matter in hand, that among the essential 

 qualifications of the ideal prune at which I must 

 aim would be early ripening and the production 

 of a larger, still sweeter freestone fruit that 

 would be borne in profusion. 



The Ideal Prune 



We have had occasion to point out that the 

 commen orchard fruits do not breed true when 

 grown from the seed. Explanations of this fact 

 have been given, and fuller explanations will ap- 

 pear in subsequent chapters. 



Here it suffices to note that the prune is no 

 exception to the rule. 



Very seldom does the seed of a prune tree pro- 

 duce a fruit that much resembles the prune. 



