DiriSIOX OF HORTICULTURE 495 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



* 



Sparta (Northern Spy Seedling). — Medium size; roundish; cavity open, deep; 

 russeted; stem short, moderately stout; basin deep, open, nearly smooth; calyx open; 

 greenish yellow washed and splashed with crimson; seeds medium size, acute; dots 

 very few, white, indistinct; skin moderately thick, tender; flesh yellowish, crisp, juicy; 

 core medium, open; flavour briskly subacid, pleasant; quality good; season December 

 to late winter. 



Resembles Northern Spy somewhat in flesh and flavour. 



Toshlet (Mcintosh Seedling). — Below medium size; roundish, regular; cavity 

 medium depth and width, sometimes lipped; stem medium length, slender; basin 

 shallow to medium, open, nearly smooth; calyx open, or partly open;, yellow well 

 washed with attractive crimson; seeds medium size, acute; dots few, yellow distinct; 

 skin thick, tender; flesh white and yellowish with traces of red, crisp, juicy; core 

 medium; flavour subacid, pleasant; quality good; season November to January, 



Resembles Mcintosh very much in outward appearance and flavour, but smaller. 

 A handsome apple. 



Valerie (Mcintosh Seedling). — Medium to below medium size> conical; cavity me- 

 dium depth, russeted; stem short, stout; basin shallow, medium width, wrinkled; calyx 

 closed; pale yellow well washed with bright crimson; dots few, pale, distinct; bloom 

 none; skin moderately thick, tough; flesh white, tender, juicy, crisp; core medium; 

 flavour subacid, pleasant; quality good; season late August to mid-October. 



Attractive in appearance. Resembles Mcintosh in character of flesh and flavour. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF ONE HUNDRED SEEDLINGS OF NORTHERN SPY 

 APPLE ORIGINATED IN THE HORTICULTURAL DIVISION. 



At the Central Experimental Farm, seed of a number of varieties of apples, includ- 

 ing Northern Spy, was saved from the 1898 crop of fruit, the object being to obtain, 

 if possible, new varieties which it was hoped would prove superior to those already 

 available, and which could be successfully grown in parts of Canada where the winter 

 was as severe or more severe than it is at Ottawa. It was thought that in an orchard 

 containing a large number of varieties of apples the chances of obtaining desirable 

 combinations of characters were very good. These seedlings where one parent only is 

 known would also be interesting to compare with those grown from seed produced by 

 hand pollination where both parents were known, should such crossing be done, as it 

 was subsequently. 



The Northern Spy apple had not fruited at Ottawa as a standard tree, it not being 

 sufficiently hardy to withstand the winters there, but in 1898 we were successful in 

 obtaining fruit from this variety top-grafted on Oldenburgh, -but subsequently the 

 graft was killed by a very severe winter. No special selection was made of the fruit 

 from which the seeds were taken. The seeds were sown in the spring of 1899 but, with 

 few exceptions, did not germinate until the spring of 1900 and after being transf)lanted 

 and grown in nursery rows were planted in the orchard in the spring of 1901 and 

 1902, a few only being planted in 1901. The trees with but few exceptioais 

 are strong growers, and only a small proportion has been injured by winter. The 

 detailed descriptions of the one hundred seedlings referred to in this report were prac- 

 tically all taken by the writer. In such work as describing varieties of apples it is 

 desirable that the descriptions be taken by one person, especially where comparisons 

 are to be made, as in most of the characteristics described it is a matter of individual 

 judgment rather than exactness. "We believe that it is important to bring together 

 the notes thus made a?, in our judgment, they furnish strong evidence of the value 

 of the Northern Spy apple in breeding new varieties. It may be stated here that 

 descriptions of the characteristics of seedlings of other varieties were given in the 



16—33^ Ott.vwa. 



