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 



117 



