MAHVELOUS POSSIBILITIES 267 



An almost equally rich field lies in saving 

 plants from their own extravagances, thereby in- 

 creasing the yield. 



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 speak- 

 ing, is one from which the fruit can be picked 

 without the use of a ladder. Thus, already, we 

 have taught fruit-bearing plants economy — - 

 saved them the extravagance of making unneces- 

 sary wood, at the expense of fruit, since it is their 

 fruit, not wood, which we desire. 



The grapes of our childhood grew sparsely on 

 climbing vines which covered our arbors; while 

 the grapes grown for profit to-day grow thickly, 

 almost solidly, on shorter, more compact vines. 

 The value of the vine lies in the fruit and not in 

 the wood. 



In so many different ways can we save our 

 plants extravagance and increase their useful 

 products by curbing their useless ones, that it 

 would not be even possible to list them here. But, 

 aside from these, and in the same category, there 

 are countless other improvements to be wrought. 

 The stoneless plum, the seedless grape, orange, 

 lemon and others point the way to a new world 

 of fruits in which the stony or shell-like covering 



