NEW PLUMS AND PRUNES 



IN 

 THE PROCESS OF MAKING 



SOME SUGGESTIONS ON WHICH OTHERS MAY BUILD 



ON one occasion a nurseryman who had 

 bought a number of fruit trees from me 

 stopped before a tree in my orchard and 

 tasted the fruit with the air of an expert. 



"That's the best plum I ever tasted," he said, as 

 he looked at the tree with admiring eyes. "At last 

 you have a perfect plum. It has just the right 

 amount of fruit on it; the taste is perfect! Sell me 

 that tree and I will make a fortune from it." 



"It's not for sale," I was compelled to answer. 



Thinking I wanted a fancy price, he started to 

 figure what he could pay. 



I interrupted to tell him the faults of the fruit. 

 It could not be shipped; it would not bear with 

 any degree of certainty. He had chanced to see 

 the tree on the very day in the year when it was 

 on exhibition at its best. We had had a week of 

 cool weather and all the plums had ripened slowly 



[VOLUME V CHAFFER VII] 



