LUTHER BURBANK 



the branches coming out not quite at right angles 

 but turning slightly upward. Branches should not 

 turn down, nor should they be crooked. Moreover, 

 the branches should not tend to grow too long and 

 slender. 



Many seedlings tend to take on a bushy growth, 

 which is undesirable. Others are too slender. 

 Some have a general irregularity of growth, which 

 is particularly objectionable. Brushiness invari- 

 ably indicates a lack of production; it suggests a 

 reversion to some inferior ancestral type. And it 

 may fairly be predicted that the tree will show 

 similar reversion as to fruit, producing a small 

 fruit of poor quality. 



Brushiness is indicated by slender, too abun- 

 dant, poor branches instead of sturdy branches. 

 Slender branches can never be correlative with 

 large fruit they have not requisite strength. 



That is one of the many reasons why I select 

 seedlings with large branches, and those having 

 prominent buds and large, thick leaves. These 

 are all indications of a bearer of large fruit. 



Large branches and large fruit are associated 

 together through the effect of past heredity; just 

 as, contrariwise, small fruit and small leaves and 

 branches are the hereditary traits that are simi- 

 larly associated with small fruit. 



Of course, it is not always possible, in the 



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