Some Experiments of I^uther Burbank 



heredity. We can not rely on the stoneless types 

 being prepotent, but a certain number of trees 

 producing stoneless fruit usually come from cross- 

 ing them with those having stones. The pre- 

 potency to produce a stone, or a half stone, having 

 been more thoroughly fixed by ages of stone- 

 producing trees, will perhaps be about ninety-nine 

 times out of one hundred. But other things 

 being equal, there is absolutely no balance in favor 

 of either sex. This may be set down as fixed.'' * 



With plum-almond crosses there is every kind 

 of variation in the flowers. Some have all 

 stamens, some have many petals or none, some 

 never open, and some have pistils only. 



The Climax plum is a cross of the bitter, flat, 

 tomato-shaped Chinese plum, Prunus simoni, and 

 the Japanese plum, Prunus triflora. The Chinese 

 plum produces almost no pollen; hardly a grain 

 of it is known, not more than one could put in 

 his eye without feeling it; but the whole fruit 

 shipping industry of the world has been changed 

 by this hybrid plum (Climax) produced by it. 



56 



