ON THE PRUNE 



lapse back from the standards its forebears have 

 established. 



If I have been engaged in a forty year long 

 quest of a perfect prune, without quite attaining 

 the ideal, it is chiefly because this fruit shows such 

 a propensity to forget what it has learned and to 

 revert to the standards of the ordinary plum. 



And the reason, stated in a word, is that the 

 traits that now specifically characterize the prune 

 have been acquired in comparatively recent gen- 

 erations; whereas the main characteristics that 

 make the ordinary plum an edible fruit have been 

 traditional in the family for untold centuries. 



When I find our almost perfect prune lapsing 

 back in the next generation to a condition that 

 robs it of all value as a prune, I am reminded of 

 the story of a young Indian who was taken from 

 his tribe and given every advantage that the 

 Government could furnish him. 



Years were spent in teaching him the studies 

 of the modern curriculum, mathematics, history, 

 literature, language, and even a smattering of art. 



At twenty-one he had a better education than 

 many of our presidents, and his future was con- 

 sidered very promising by those who had to do 

 with his training. 



Ten years later this educated Indian was one 

 of the most worthless of his tribe. 



[83] 



