LUTHER BURBANK 



But the same transformation which would thus 

 have worked destruction in a state of nature, suf- 

 ficed to make sure that, under the changed condi- 

 tions of artificial selection, this particular plum 

 should become the progenitor of all the plums of 

 the future. 



For we can little doubt, now that the stone has 

 been taken from a few varieties of cultivated 

 plums and prunes, that all other varieties will 

 ultimately be brought into the stoneless coalition. 

 And the only feasible way to bring this about will 

 be to interbreed one variety after another with 

 the descendants of the little stoneless bullace. 



The plums of the future will be diversified in 

 form and size and quality. 



They will draw their chief ancestral traits 

 from the plums of Japan or China or Europe 

 or America, or from a blending of these strains. 



But each and every one of them will have the 

 little sans noyau for one of its ancestors, and will 

 owe to that plebeian ancestor the quality of stone- 

 lessness which will be regarded as one of its best 

 prized characteristics. 



A RETROSPECTIVE GLANCE 



In this view, then, the stoneless plum may be 

 considered perhaps the most interesting of fruits. 



Possibly a future even more important than 

 that just suggested may be in wait for it. It is at 



[150] 



