228 PLANT-BREEDING 



crossed with the French prune, Petite d'Agen, which is 

 widely spread in California culture, and with other prunes. 

 About 1893, the first hybrid fruits ripened. Numerous 

 crosses had been made, numerous hybrids had to be tested. 

 Only a small proportion of the seedlings were stoneless, and 

 most of these showed the undesirable qualities usually found 

 in seedlings. It was only in 1899 that a good palatable 

 stoneless prune of sufficient size appeared. This has been 

 given the name of Miracle, and is now being brought into 

 the trade by the Oregon Nursery Company, at Salem, 

 Oregon. It combines the main character of the "prune sans 

 noyau" with the good qualities of the Petite d'Agen, while 

 hardiness and bearing qualities are characteristics of both 

 parents. It does not contain sugar enough to be classed 

 among the drying prunes, but for cooking it must supplant 

 the well-known Damsons, being larger and more productive 

 than any of them. 



The spineless edible cactus combines, in the same way, 

 the main character of its spineless parent with the excellent 

 qualities of the ordinary cultivated varieties. It has excel- 

 lent fruit of a new flavor which may be eaten fresh or 

 cooked. As food for cattle the stems are very rich; they are 

 estimated to be at least one half as nutritious as alfalfa (Lu- 

 cerne clover). The production of this variety started from 

 five species of Opuntia imported from different countries, 

 the names of some of them being unknown at the time. 

 Among them was a spineless, but small and insignificant, 

 species from Central America. These he has crossed and 

 re-crossed with the cultivated varieties, selecting for vigorous 

 growth and superior food-bearing qualities. A number of 

 European and African varieties of Indian Figs were sent to 

 him and .the Opuntia vulgaris, O. Engelmanni, and other 

 hardy types were mixed with them. The beds, -which I saw 

 in 1906, showed hundreds of specimens which had been 



