The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1904-05-18

as they found her, and regarded 1t as
wastcful extravaganza ITO paint the
lily or throw perfume on the violet.
But that is not the case in our times,
and q good many scientific experts
employ their time and wits to discover
in what ways it is possible to heighten
the beauty Of the ole and the odor Of
the other Isaac Walton quoted a Ger
tain DR.. Butler as saying of strawbcr-
rcs: "Doubtless God could have
created better berry, but doubtless
He never did - SO it has been left
for modern fruit growers TO try their
hand at bettering, not only strawber-
rics, but every possible kind Of fruit;
and so to mix up the various species
that it may soon be impossible to
know whether they are eating any Of
the fruits with which they were fanil-
lar in childhood, or some new species
invented by the ingenuity Of man. a
year or two ago, in the Texas Farm
and Rancho, there was an account of
a new hybrid berry that was q combi-
nation of strawberry and blackberry;
but which had wisely preferred to
grow upon bush rather than upon
the lowly vine of the former, which
renders the fruit liable to contact with
the earth, and conduces to lumbago
in the backs of those who pick them.
While the plants of this new fruit
to which at last account distinctive
name was lacking-were not quite so
costly as were the scions Of o certain
famous caguation, they were still very
expensive, and NO have not heard Of
them finding their way into market to
any great extent, so that the success
Of this attempt to better nature is
still hypothetical; but We may be sure
that the idea having been once sug-
gested, somebody will continue to ex-
pertinent until he succeeds in produc-
ing fruit that would defy any botan-
ist to identify it..
A recent number Of the Literary
Digest gave quite an interesting ac-
count of experiments that are going
on in California in hybridizing and
improving certain fruits and flowers
by Mr.. Burbank, Of that State. His
latest achievement was the production
of new fruit which he calls opium
cot'' to signify it's descent from plums
and aprioots, and which is said to be
superior to either in flavor, while pos
sessing q distinctive and delicious
taste of it's own. "The Plumcot,
says its creator, lis therefore dis
tinctive fruit, as distinctive as If q
new fruit had been handed down from
another planet. 1t has the general
form of an apricot and the same out
side appearance, but is more highly
colored than either plum or an april
cot, with soft skin and shadowy
bloom and an indescribably delicious
flavor" The chief popularity Of the
new species of plums and apricots
grown on Mr.. Burbank fruit rancho
is that they are stonelesa; but we are
not told in this article whether the
plumoot is produced from the seedlesa
kinds or from tho ordinary plums and
apricots. Nor is this the only success
which Mr.. Burbank has achieved in
the production Of o new kind of fruit,
for the "white blackberry" is another
of his achievements. This has not
c,me from hybridizing, but from care.
full selection, for We are told "He
kept on selecting berries which, in
ripering, did not become pure black
and finally got bush in which the
fruit changed from che green Of i'm.
maturity to pure white. This involv.
ed the examination of nearly 5000
bushes several times in several sue
ceeding years. The painstaking ener-
gy necessary in such search is mere
lY suggested by such figures" We
must say, however, that it hardly
seems that "the play was worth the
candle" in this latter achievement;
since. if the fruit is exactly the same
as the original blackberry in every
thing but color, there does not appear
to be any great advantage in The
change from black to white. It is
somewhat on the order of "a bleached
blond" or any other pervision of ma
ture which changes without improv.
ing
Nor does Mr.. Burbank oonfne his
efforts to better nature entirely to
fruits. Many flowers have passed
under his magic touch, and have as-
sumed new glory from it. Probably
the best known Of these to the people