ON THE STONELESS PLUMS AND PRUNES 



covering has been developed by natural selection 

 to insure continuance of the species under natural 

 conditions. 



But it is obvious that, now that man has taken 

 the plant under his care, the species will be per- 

 petuated with his aid, and hence the extraordinary 

 armor about the seed might well be dispensed 

 with. But as a matter of course the plant cannot 

 drop all at once a structure that heredity and 

 environment have worked thousands of years to 

 build up. 



Man cannot take the Indian and say to him: 

 "Be civilized," and expect him in a generation to 

 drop the tendencies that have become a part of 

 him through centuries of inheritance. 



The hunter cannot take the wolf and by treat- 

 ing him like a domesticated animal make a dog of 

 him in a single generation even though the an- 

 cestor of the dog was a wolf. And similarly when 

 the fruit grower takes the plum under his protec- 

 tion, he cannot hope that this plant will give up at 

 once the protective device that has served it so well 

 in the long past. 



Heredity will have its say, and the seed armor 

 will persist long after it has ceased to be of real 

 utility. 



THE STONE BECOMES AN INCUMBRANCE 



And yet it is easy to see, that under conditions 



[145] 



