LUTHER BURBANK 



least within the possibilities, as hinted in our dis- 

 cussion of the peach, that the quality of stoneless- 

 ness may be extended from the plums to the allied 

 tribes of stone fruits by hybridization. 



Conceivably the descendants of the little bul- 

 lace may include not only the races of cultivated 

 plums but even all races of apricots and plumcots 

 and cherries as well. 



But even though the view be confined to much 

 narrower limits, it still remains true that the 

 stoneless plum is among the most important of 

 plant developments. So it may be worth while 

 even at the risk of a certain amount of repetition 

 to review the history of this development, and in 

 particular to add a few details that have not hith- 

 erto been presented. 



It will be recalled that the little sans noyau, 

 despite its name, was not altogether stoneless, 

 inasmuch as each fruit had a rim of stone more 

 than half way around the kernel; also that the 

 fruit itself was only about the size of the ordinary 

 cranberry, and was harsh, acrid, and unpalatable. 



Yet when this unpromising fruit was crossed 

 with the French prune, and with numerous other 

 plums and prunes, some of the crossbred seed- 

 lings produced fruit larger than the French prune, 

 and nearly all of the hybrids were superior to the 

 wild parent. 



[152] 



