PLUMS AND PRUNES 
regards richness of food product; for, without 
this, his new plum would soon be detected by 
the public and cast out as an impostor. 
3. He must have the most attractive-look- 
ing plum obtainable; for man delights to 
have. beautiful fruit on his table; indeed, 
who shall say how large a part it plays with 
his digestion ? 
So, in general, these three basic points must 
be considered, in addition to many others, in 
making the ideal plum. In a somewhat con- 
tradictory sense Mr. Burbank has made a 
good many ideal plums, each one having some 
attribute in addition to the essentials and 
thereby causing it to be peculiarly distinctive. 
For example, he has bred one plum with a 
delicious fragrance, so powerful that when left 
in a closed room over night the whole apart- 
ment will be delightfully saturated with the 
odor. Another plum has not only the essen- 
tials but it has a flavor wholly distinct from 
the plum, in fact it is not to be distinguished 
from the Bartlett pear. So marked is this 
characteristic that when one of the foremost 
fruiterers of the world tasted the plum blind- 
folded, not knowing what manner of fruit he 
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