LUTHER BURBANK 



several years more than three-fourths of the seeds 

 kept for planting were thus lost. 



At a fairly early stage of the experiment I 

 had large quantities of seeds in hand, for I was 

 operating on an expansive scale in order to have 

 wide opportunity for selection. Several hundred 

 thousand plum seeds, all stoneless, were once 

 placed in cold storage, at freezing temperature, 

 as soon as they were gathered and cleaned. Some 

 were placed in sterilized sawdust, and some in 

 charcoal dust, and some in sand. 



Another assortment, similarly packed, was 

 kept in boxes in a cool shady place until the first 

 of January, when all were planted. In both lots, 

 the seeds that had been kept in sand were in 

 better condition than those preserved in the 

 sterilized redwood sawdust. Those kept in char- 

 coal differed little from the other lots. The ones 

 in cold storage had suffered from blue mold 

 more than the others, but both lots were in fair 

 condition. 



All were planted on the same day in rows side 

 by side. The seeds that had been kept in cold 

 storage germinated at once, and in a week were 

 all practically above ground. The seeds of the 

 other lot, which had come from the same trees, 

 did not commence to germinate for about six 

 weeks. Yet later in the season very little differ- 



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