LUTHER BURBANK 



together on the tree; they had responded to ideal 

 weather and produced a beautiful fruit of su- 

 perior flavor. But conditions are not always ideal 

 by any manner of means and this plum could 

 not stand adversity. 



The next year the would-be purchaser saw the 

 same tree coming, in fact, for the further obser- 

 vation of it and found the fruit worthless. For 

 three days we had had unusually warm weather, 

 and the fruit lacked quality. My estimate of it 

 had been verified. 



I tell the anecdote to illustrate the need of cau- 

 tion in judging a new fruit. The work is not over 

 when the plum is produced; the fruit must be 

 tested under varying conditions and in successive 

 seasons. 



But, of course, there is no great difficulty in 

 applying the final tests. That requires only pa- 

 tience and open mindedness. The real difficulties 

 were encountered at an earlier stage of the 

 experiment. 



What some of these difficulties are, and how 

 they may be overcome, will be told in the succeed- 

 ing pages. We have considered the ideal plum 

 somewhat attentively from the standpoint of mar- 

 ketman and consumer. Let us now regard the 

 same subject from the standpoint of the orchardist 

 and plant developer. 



[198] 



