THE SUGAR PRUNE 



ripener, the seedling may produce fruit that 

 ripens so late as to be useless. 



All of which serves to give an inkling of the 

 difficulties that beset the plant experimenter who 

 sets out in pursuit of an ideal prune. 



Moreover, the variety of characteristics re- 

 quired to make up the ideal prune is far greater 

 than the novice might suppose. It is a matter of 

 course that the fruit should be large and well 

 flavored — though not too large, lest it become too 

 difficult to dry; and that it should be produced 

 in abundance. 



But there are various equally essential points 

 that the novice might overlook. 



There is, for example, the matter of quality of 

 skin, determining the fitness of the fruit to undergo 

 the lye bath which is an essential part of prune 

 curing. 



It is necessary to dip the prunes in this bath, 

 consisting of a solution of potash or lye, in order 

 that the skin may crack in such a way as to permit 

 the rapid evaporation essential to quick drying. 

 But in a very large number of cases, prunes 

 that have every other essential quality fail when 

 subjected to this final test. It is not too much 

 to say that I have developed hundreds of new 

 varieties of prunes that were well nigh perfect as 

 to quality, but which had no commercial value 



[245] 



