The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-06-05
FRUITS WITHOUT SEEDS.
THE TASK or BREEDING THESE
PRODUCTS BECOSTING EASIER.

was aaiScd-Other Fruits From
which Nature Has Eliminated the
seedS-New Problems.
From the New York sun.
Pomologists have been engaged steadily
in trying 10 eliminate from our common
fruits the seeds and pits thar detract from
cher usefulness, and from the vines and
trees. The thorns and briers that inter
fere With their best cultivation The prog
ress of this world is necessarily slow. but
il is possible 70 anticipate the time not
far distant when seedless fruit viii be the
rule instead OF The exception. In the same
way it is hoped that other iittle incon-
venIeuces may be removed, such as the
hard shells of nuts. the thick skin or rind,
and even 5he PUPPY mass or core, that oe-
cupies nearly half The space inside some
varieties of oranges and apples. The inn
p1ovement of the size, quality and flavor
o. fruits is not more important or essen
tai than this elimination of outgrown and
useless organs of the products Of tree and
vine.
Under modern methods of cultivation the
seeds of our best varieties of fruits can
easily be dispensed with, as they are OF
little practical value. Seeding stock rails
ed from the wild or common varieties an
swer the purpose as wei as the rare or
choice trees, and their usual combination
of hardness and virility influences the
budded scions for good. Nature had al
ready anticipated horticulturists ia dis
pensing with the seeds and depending upon
other methods of propagation. The ba-
mana, for instance, is a seedess fruit which
nature has apparently changed through
some peculiar process. RudimentarY
seeds are to be found in the fruit to-day
By Sitting the banana down lengthwise
rows of the documentary seeds viii be eX-
posed to view Undoubtedly at one time
in Its primitive wild state the banana
propagated itself by means of seeds, but
the use Of suckers for this purpose gradu-
ally made the seeds of less and less value
Following out che law of nature, the seeds,
becoming useless organs, degenerated. Oc-
casionally banana is found that does
propagate itself by means of its seeds, or
al least perfect seeds are produced in the
fruit which can terminate. If for any
reason the suckers of this plant should
fail to do the work ntrusted 90 them. II
Is not unlikely that nature would reinstate
the seed organs, and develop them gradual
~ to their early responsible position.
The pineapple and caufinower are two
other common Illustrations of how nature
occasionally dispenses with seeds The
pineapple is almost secdless, and. ike the
banana, its propagation is entirely by
suckers. The seeds are In a low, rudiment-
airy condition, but at one time they must
have had their function 20 perform in
life, and they are capable, under stress Of
circumstances to renew their vitality The
type would not be eXtermInated If the
suckers should fail to perpetuate the
plants. All the resources Of the plants
would go 20 the assistance Of the seeds TO
develop and vitalize them once more. This
has been found possible by experiment
BY selecting the pineapples with the most
promising seeds, and propagating them by
the usual process, the seed organs have
gradually been developed until they are
able 70 reproduce their kind
The eggplant IS more interesting than
either the banana or pineapple. Here we
have a fruit which is only occasionally
seediess. That the seeds are really i'm
material TO the welfare of the plant is evil
denced by the fact that perfect fruits are
often developed whether the blossoms are
fortified or not. In the hands of the horti-
euitufisJs II would be an easy matter TO
produce elephants that would have only
the slightest trace of documentary seed or
gans. or vice versa, il would be possible
10 develop class of fruits that would be
supplied with an abundance of large. full
grown seeds
Natures hints thus supplied in few iso-
lated cases have been the opportunities of
man 10 raise class of seedless fruits
Sometimes IL is merely freak of nature
that happens only once or twice in a gener-
alton, and if the opportunity is missed the
loss is great To this origin we owe our
fine California naval orange which is
generally a seedless fruit, although occa-
sionaiiy few small seeds are TO be found
in It. The naval orange was an effort of
nature to produce Irvine, but one of the
twins aborted. merely surviving as a pro-
tuberance in the blossom end of the
orange a little kernel envoIoped in the
skin which closely resembles the human
naval IN appearance, In the effort to pro-
duce monstrosity the seeds Were appar-
emily neglected. By taking the sclons of
this fruit tree and grating them on seed
ling stock we have practically established
a seedless orange. II Is Furthermore re-
markable because of its excellent quality
and size. Usually the freaks of nature pro-
duee fruits that are not very good Thus
quite number of apple trees have been
produced the fruit of which Is nearly or
quite seedless. Their origin has been large
~ the same as that of the naval orange
They are generally abnormalities, and they
are often called 'bloomless," because the
blossoms have no petals and sometimes
lack stamens Their appearance and quail
lty are not such as to recommend them 10
the general consumer. The core is smafl
and Insignificant, but the shape is peculiar
and the flavor poor
But seedless apples and pears of good
quality may yet be propagated, and gar
deners are working toward this end Re
cent new varieties show great improve
ments over those first produced. ana in
The course of time careful culture and
selection may bring about the desired re-
suits. How much the culture, selection
and environment have 70 do with the
proper development of the fruits is appar-
ent in the case OF the seedless currauts of
Corinth, or the Sultana grapes Of South
eastern Europe. These were supposed To
nave Deem as fun of seeds as any other
fruits far back IN history, but successive
years OF culture and selection eliminated
The seeds and improved the quality of the
fruits. How the culturists FIRST got their
hint of seedless fruits is not known. but
il is reasonable to believe that they took
advantage OF a freak of nature which