LUTHER BURBANK 



gestive of a tomato. It perhaps originated near 

 the native home of the apricot, to which fruit it 

 appears to be somewhat more closely related than 

 to other plums. 



The fruits of China, apparently, have not been 

 greatly modified for many centuries. They there- 

 fore tend to fixity. Indeed, they furnish a typical 

 example of the way in which the conservatism 

 of a race may be stamped upon its fruit. Or is it 

 that people and plants alike are conservative be- 

 cause of the climatic conditions that environ 

 them? 



In any event, the Chinese plum, when hybrid- 

 ized with other species of plums, brings to the 

 union characteristics that are highly important. 



Thus the Chinese plum has a delightful aroma, 

 it is of unique form and rich color, and the stone 

 is very small in proportion to the flesh. 



On the other hand this plum is chiefly adapted 

 to arid, semi-tropical climates; the fruit is likely 

 to remain bitter, and it may crack so badly as to 

 be utterly worthless. 



Fortunately the merits may be retained, and 

 the faults eliminated, in the hybrid progeny. 

 MATERIALS FROM EUROPE AND AMERICA 



The European plum manifests no less mark- 

 edly than the oriental one the tastes of the peo- 

 ple by whom it has been developed. 



[56] 



