LUTHER BURBANK 



new surroundings, for the good of the offspring 

 and the race. It takes very little meat, and very 

 little in the way of attractive appearance to 

 accomplish this purpose; and besides, the wild 

 plum has to put so much of its vitality into stone, 

 in order to protect the seed within it from the 

 sharp teeth of the same animals which carrj^ it 

 away, that it has little energy left to devote to 

 beauty and flavor. 



"Then take the same wild plum after it has 

 been brought under cultivation and as it grows 

 in the average backyard, and you will find a 

 transformation — less stone, more meat, better 

 flavor, finer aroma, more regular shape, brighter 

 color. 



"This, however, represents but the first stage 

 in the progress of the plum; with all this 

 improvement the backyard plum still maj^ not 

 be useful for any commercial purpose; because 

 people with plum trees in their backj^ards are 

 likely to eat the fruit off the tree, or to give it 

 to their neighbors, or to cook and preserve it as 

 soon as ripe. So, even the cultivated backj^ard 

 plum may be perfectlj^ satisfactory for its purpose 

 without having those keeping qualities necessary 

 in a commercial fruit. 



"And this is the point at which the Union 

 Pacific Railroad entered into its environment — at 



[276] 



