THE NEW WORK 



been at work upon a most interesting problem, 

 now solved, the production of a fruit from a 

 cross of two solanums, the widely differen- 

 tiated plant which runs through some seven 

 or eight hundred species, chief among which 

 are the potato, the eggplant, and the deadly 

 nightshade. The two plants on which Mr. 

 Burbank has been working bore what might 

 be called fruit, though neither one was of any 

 value. One bore green berries about the size 

 of buckshot and of no use whatever as a 

 food for man, though animals are very fond of 

 them, especially rabbits and poultry. The 

 other bore somewhat larger fruit, black in 

 color, growing in smaller clusters. This latter 

 had an intensely bad odor and flavor and was 

 of no value as a food. 



These two worthless plants were crossed, 

 and out of them has come an entirely new 

 fruit, different from any which has been 

 known in the world before, and promising to 

 become a novel and valuable addition to the 

 world's store. Work is still in progress, as the 

 plants vary somewhat in flavor and produc- 

 tiveness and uniformity must be secured. But 

 so great is their general productiveness that 



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