LUTHER BURBANK 



ica at the time of European discovery. 



There are several quite distinct species of 

 these indigenous plums. They grow far to the 

 north, and perhaps their most important charac- 

 teristic is their hardiness. Some of them resist 

 the . scorching heat of tropical America; others 

 thrive and bear in the short seasons of the snowy 

 north. With hardiness of tree has been developed 

 a strain of productiveness. Various wild plums 

 often cover the ground in the fall with layers of 

 ripened fruit. 



Notwithstanding this, however, the crop is 

 uncertain, some of the thriftiest trees proving un- 

 productive in certain seasons, and the fruit is 

 always inferior in size. 



Many of the American plums are of fine qual- 

 ity, even in the wild state. Yet their faults are 

 almost as numerous as their virtues. The trees 

 are generally small, not usually large enough to 

 make good commercial orchard trees. In form, 

 too, the trees are defective. And the fruit, not- 

 withstanding its excellent flavor, is often soft and 

 watery, quite lacking shipping quality. 

 IN THE MELTING POT 



Obviously, then, the plums of each country 

 offer certain good qualities and present certain 

 defects. 



To take the characteristics from the plums of 



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