Middletown transcript., 1905-03-18
APPLE WITHOUT
Seed OR CORE
Had lis Origin Only a Few
Years AGO
is SHR0UDED In MYSTERY

The seedless orange is now a familiar
frnit. Its analogue-a seedless apple-is
the latest wonder OF the plant breeders,
whose efforts seem likely to turn the
whole world of fruit and vegetables
behevolently topsy-turvy. The new
apple is described in the Scientific Amer
can February 4th) by A. Frederick Col.
lins, as follows:
''This marvellous improvement in the
common apple, fulfilling in letter as well
as in spirit the jest of the schoolboy, who
proclaimed that there amt going to be
10 core, would seem to indicate that the
new apple will eventually monopolize
the markets of the world, for reasons
which the appending data clearly point
out.
.'By way of illustration, it may be
said that the seedless and coreless apple
follows the analogue presented by the
seedles4 orange. and is in fact a proto-
type of the latter. When the seedless
orange was introduced to the public, it
was regarded in the light OF horticul-
tural wonder, for, il there were no seeds,
by what uncanny method was their kind
propagated.
"Shrouded in mystery such as.this, it
required some little time for the matter-of-
fact virtues to impress themselves and
the real merits of the fruit to become
known; but once eaten, its subtle quail
ties were forgotten. and its advantages
were quickly appreciated, and from that
day to this the old-fashioned variety, with
its multiplicity of seeds has suffered sever
ely, having been almost driven from the
market and left all but out of the race.
Now let us ascertain the real difference
between the two varities of the oranges,
as the comparison will serve useful pur-
pose when the old and new species of
apples are being similarly considered.
The reason seedless oranges are univer-
sally preferred to those that contain
ovnles is not because any saving is effect
ed, but simply that the seed are in the
way. The ordinary apple presents u
wholly different aspect. for the seeds are
inclosed in hard pockets that represent
at least onefourth of the apple, and
which can not be utilized in any way
as All article of food, whereas in the seed
less variety these disagreeabIe features
are entirely eliminated. STILL. what is
more to the point OF economy apples with
out seeds are also wormless, for it is we'll
known to growers that worms in apples
obtain their sustenance not from the meat,
but from the seed; hence it is evident
that if worm was Matched in seedless
apple, it could not live"
The seedless apple, we are told further,
had its origin only few years ago, and its
history is brief. The credit for its pro-
pagation belongs to John Spencer, Of
Grand Junction, Colorado, who, after at
tempting for several years to produce it,
finally secured five trees that bore seed
less, coreless and wormless apples. To
quote again:
''From this little group have budded
two thousand more trees, which at pres
ent constitute the entire seedless apple
stock of the world; and from these two
thousand trees all the rest of the world
must be supplied. 1t is estimated that
these will have produced about three
hundred and seventy-five thousand nur-
sery trees by the fall of 1905, and that the
following year at least two million five
hundred thousand trees will furnish the
supply.
'There are many striking peculiarities
in the Development of the seedless tree,
as well as in the fruit. As an instance, it
may be cited that the tree is blossomless;
and while there is a stamen and very
small quantity OF pollen, exactly as in the
blossom of the ordinary apple tree, yet
the blossom or flower itself is missing.