LUTHER BURBANK 



so necessary a protection to it while it grew in the 

 desert, where, in the old days, buffalo and ante- 

 lope, and in more recent times cattle and horses 

 would feed on its succulent slabs were they not 

 carefully guarded. 



The apple, which armed itself with sharp 

 thorns when in the wild state, has given up the 

 thorns since it came into the orchard. 



Among other families of plants we find that 

 protection has been secured by the development 

 of acrid or astringent or poisonous properties, 

 offensive odors, or imitative colors that serve no 

 useful purpose except to safeguard the plant 

 against its enemies. And such protective devices 

 and mechanisms often become a burden when the 

 plant is brought under the guardianship of man. 



Of a piece with these protective devices is the 

 peculiar covering that the plums and their allies 

 have developed about the seed that grows at the 

 heart of their fleshy and succulent fruit. This 

 stone is like an armor-plate covering that success- 

 fully protects the seed from the action of even the 

 strongest jaws, or from almost any forces of 

 nature to which it is likely to be subjected. 



Possibly one reason why the stone fruits have 

 developed this unusual seed-covering is that each 

 fruit of this family bears but a single seed. The 

 many-seeded apple does not need to protect its 



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