ON SPECIFIC NEEDS 



prune, it is a serious defect to have the fruit so 

 firmly attached to the stem that it clings to the 

 tree after ripening. A prune must drop of its own 

 accord when ripe or the prune dealer will have 

 none of it. But the quality that would make a 

 prune commercially worthless, when accentuated 

 in the cherry, becomes a mark of possible excep- 

 tional value. The cherry that leaves its stone on 

 the tree might conceivably fill a special purpose. 

 So this variation in the inherent properties of the 

 cherry might produce a new race of commercial 

 value to meet an exceptional need. 



It requires but little ingenuity to suggest pos- 

 sible developments that would similarly give 

 added value to the fruits of various species. 



For example, there is the matter of color in the 

 pear. Unlike most other fruits, this one, as every- 

 one knows, is for the most part lacking in the 

 brilliant color that purchasers of fruit in the 

 market usually find so attractive. But there is 

 no reason why pears of various brilliant and at- 

 tractive colors should not be developed just as 

 colored apples have been developed. 



Our native crab apple is dull greenish brown 

 or dull red, and unattractive in color even when 

 ripe. Of course this is not the direct progenitor of 

 the cultivated apple, but it obviously belongs to 

 a closely related strain, and it shows us the apple 



[23] 



