NEW CREATIONS IN PLANT LIFE 
was eating, he pronounced it unquestionably 
the finest Bartlett pear he had ever tasted. 
Stranger still, as the plum developed, the tree 
has taken on much of the character of the 
Bartlett pear tree in leaf and structure, though 
why no one can tell, for it has never had the 
slightest pear tree blood in its veins. 
Still another plum was developed which 
showed phenomenal bearing qualities, while 
also being otherwise excellent. It was so 
tremendously prolific, so to use the words, 
that its very fecundity stood in its way. Thus, 
wherever grown, hired “strippers,” as they are 
called, must be engaged to go into the or- 
chards when the fruit is green and strip the 
branches of all but just enough plums satis- 
factorily to mature. From a single tree by 
actual count 22,000 plums were 
enough even then being left on the tree 
to yield an abundant harvest. 
Another plum which was made over to 
order, so to speak, has been almost similarly 
prolific. It was a small, dull-colored, bitter, 
wild plum, the American beach plum, unfit 
to sat unless cooked. It was a remarkable 
plum in many ways, growing on almost any 
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