MR. MORGANS' TURN NEXT, 



135 



to see The Canadian Horticulturist lend 

 prominent space to the foisting on a gulli- 

 ble public something, which as yet is vague, 

 indefinite, untested and may prove a fake so 

 far as adding anything substantial and use- 

 ful to our fruit lists. 



By the way, is this company proceeding 

 along the lines of those who, before selling, 

 first prove the value of their acquisition by 

 actual trial ? Are the experiment stations 

 to be given an opportunity to pass on. the 

 merits of the variety, or is this extensive ad- 

 vertising to proceed coincidentally with the 

 propagation and sale of the trees ? It would 

 seem that the latter method is to be followed. 

 Although the writer was promised speci- 

 mens for examination last fall, they did not 

 arrive for some reason ; and unless I am 

 misinformed, the samples exhibited in St. 

 Louis were safely embalmed in antiseptic 

 fluids and shown througfh a glass covering. 



There is before me a copy of the National 

 Fruit Grower, of St. Joseph, Mo., in which 

 an extension or elaboration of the stock arti- 

 cle puiblished in last month's Horticulturist 

 occupies a prominent place. Passing over 

 the highly garnished statements of the inci- 

 dent of the sale of two specimens for 60 

 sliillings in Covent Garden market, here are 

 some of the statements volunteered by Mr. 

 Sampson Morgan, of Broadstairs, England, 

 the writer of this noted contribution : " In 

 the near future seedless and coreless apples 

 will be on sale in the fruit shops of every 

 city in the United Kingdom." What pro- 

 phetic vision enables this horticultural seer 

 to pronounce on the success of this variety 

 Avithout a single trial having been made out- 

 side the grounds of the interested origina- 

 tor? " The tree produces a cluster of small 

 green leaves like a disorganized bud. It is 

 here that in due course the fruit forms." 

 How astonishing! The apple is a multiple 

 bud. As the winter bud expands in spring 

 the several blossoms which it contains are 

 disclosed. Apple blossoms without petals 

 are not at all uncommon ; several specimens 



of these apetalous blossoms were sent me 

 last spring. The petal is not an essential 

 organ. 



We read further that there being no petals 

 and therefore no fragrance, the codling 

 moth passes it by unrecognized! The au- 

 thor of this ingenuous statement forgets (if 

 he ever knew) that the codling moth gets 

 in its fine work after the petals fall and the 

 fragrance ( ?) has departed. True, like 

 the writer of the interesting article, a second 

 sight may enable it (the moth) to look 

 within and discover the abnormality of the 

 specimen and thus be frightened away. 

 Again, " the trees are being propagated 

 from buds, no seeds being available." An- 

 other revelation ! Now, it may not be 

 known to Air. Morgan, but it is a fact 

 nevertheless, that nurserymen have been 

 propagating named varieties in this country 

 by graftage, in which buds are used in 

 various ways, since the settlement of the 

 country. History further informs us that 

 this method came to us from the Greeks and 

 Romans or possibly an older civilization. 

 We grow pansies and pop corn from seed, 

 not apple trees — unless we are after some- 

 thing dififerent. 



Again this optimistic writer says : " The 

 permanency of the seedlessness of the Spen- 

 cer apple is ibeyond dispute. Over 2,500 

 trees are already in hand, and the stock is 

 being extended." I am somewhat in doubt 

 as to the nature of the stock referred to, 

 whether the watered article of the company 

 or the stock of this variety. My advice is 

 to take little of either until you absolutely 

 know what you are buying. Listen to this ! 

 " Arrangements are in progress to ensure 

 ample supplies of these wonderful novelties 

 in England, and their arrival will be duly 

 announced in the advertising columns of the 

 general press." We understand that a 

 stock of 2.500 grafts will, in Jack-the-Bean- 

 Stalk style, grow to bearing size and fur- 

 nish enough fruit so that after satisfying 

 the American market there will be a suffi- 



