The Press., 1897-02-04
POMOLUGICAL ART.
TRYING TO PRODUCE sEEDLEss AND
 THoRNLESs FRUIT.

TRYING TO PRODUCE SEEDEESS AND
 THoRNLEss FRUIT.
 ceed In Improving Upon Nature--Re-
 suits Have Shown That They Are on the
 Right Basis-Slight Success With Apples.
 One of the most important objects po- mologists are striving for is to produce thornless and seedless fruits, and from the results already obtained it is not unlikely that the end will soon be real ized. Seeds are not relished by the con- sumers of fruits, and if they could be removed we would enjoy our grapes without experiencing 8 dread of appen- dicitis and kindred complaints.
 Thorns are not in good standing among fruit growers, because they are constantly puncturing the best fruits and, what is equally important, the skin of the pickers. The thorns and prickles of plants and trees were un- doubtedly intended by nature to protect them from animals, but that is no req son why they should be continued for generation after generation on the cul- tivated varieties. The gardener has no need for them. and, for that matter, the trees and shrubs have none either.
 Our domesticated pears and apples were all derived from the thorny, wild varieties, and pomologists have succeed ed in ridding them of these spikes and prickles by careful culture and selec- tion. Oranges and lemons have not been cultivated in this country as suc- fy11I and of them are very thorny. The wild and sour orange trees of Florida are bris- tling with thorns, as is also the high priced king orange, one of the best of the mandarins. The wild lemon trees of Florida are so thorny that growers ques- tion the advisability of grafting the fine La France lemons on them.
 In Florida, however, the thorns of the orange and lemon trees have been greatly reduced by selecting buds from branches with the fewest thorns, and by continuing this process year after year the sharp spikes disappear. In Oal- ifornia nearly all of the orange trees are thornless-not naturally, but as the re- suit of cultivation and selection.
 The thorns on blackberries, raspber- ries and rosebushes give the greatest bother to horticulturists in the north, and there is determined effort to get rid of them. The thorns give endless 1 trouble to the pickers, and their remov- al might save many puncture to deli | cate hands. There is an improved varie- | ty of raspberry placed on the market to- day which is entirely thornless, but the trouble is that quality and quantity o1 fruit have been sacrificed to the gain made in destroying the thorns.
 There is little doubt that perfect thornless blackberries and raspberrie. will soon be obtained, for there is { widespread movement among gardener and seedsmen to accomplish this. The man who is fortunate enough to product a variety that gives perfect fruit with out the thorns will receive pretty stiff price for his plants.
 Seeds are also unnecessary plant prod ucts in these advanced days of horticul
 ture, when gardeners propagate hal their stock by cuttings, gratis and slips Nature need no longer trouble herself about the fear of losing any of her types The modern horticulturist is sure tt preserve every one of any value without gathering seed.
 The California navel orange repre- sents the best type of fruit grown with
 out seeds. Nature produced this orange as freak at first, and man has takel advantage of it to propagate fruit of 1
 high order. Half the oranges of Cali
 fornia are grafted with the navel, ant
 it is the most important fruit of th'
 Pacific coast. Nature tried to produc
 twins in the navel orange, and one sur
 vived only as protuberance ill tn
 blossom end, while the other expanded
 into q we'll shaped fruit without seeds
 The SC oranges are occasionally fount
 with small seeds; but, BE a rule, the.
 are perfectly seedless.
 Several varities of seedless apples ant
 pears have already been produced, bu
 the quality of the fruit is generally poo
 and nearly worthless. They are calle'
 'bloomless" pears and apples and ar exhibited more as curiosities than as tn triumphs of pomologieal art. Neverthe less, they are the beginning of a new CT of apple growing, and they represent tn primary stock of seedless fruits whio may produce in time the finest aavore apples and pears.
 The grape industry would be benefit P ed more than any other by the produc } tion of new varieties without seeds, an ' toward this end scores of fruit grower
 are working, especially in California The idea is to produce not only tabl
 grapes, but grapes that will make fin
 raisins. Seedless raisins would prov
 such a boon to the whole civilized worl that any other variety would be quickl run out of the market.
 There is a seedless grape of Corintt . which commonly passes as a cuTan and the Sultana raisins of southeaster Europe are also seedless. But thet fruits are so small that they can neve s answer the purpose. What the trad c wants is a large, seedless grape, wit
 perfect color and flavor. and to get thu it is necessary to experiment for year