X.] SEED -PRODUCTION VS. QUALITY. 220 



the relation of seed -production to amelioration or the 

 effects of cultivation, but as the ultimate aim of ame- 

 lioration is the production of fruits of high quality, 

 the remarks are germane to this discussion. As a 

 rule, the cultivated varieties of apples contain more 

 seeds than the wild European crabs. Forty speci- 

 mens of fruit of these crab seedlings I found to con- 

 tain a total of two hundred and fifty -six seeds, or an 

 average of six and two -fifths seeds to the fruit. Forty 

 Northern Spy apples yielded four hundred and eighty - 

 one seeds, or an average of over twelve to the fruit. 

 Normally, the apple contains five carpels, and each 

 carpel contains two seeds, but some of these Spys had 

 fifteen seeds and one had eighteen. And yet the 

 Northern Spy ranks 10 in Mr. Lyon's dessert scale. I 

 had all the seeds counted in a pound of each of thirty 

 samples* of tomatoes, representing twenty -six varieties 

 of very different degrees of amelioration. The lowest 

 comparative seed production was in the Cherry tomato, 

 which is very near the wild type. There was found 

 to be a general, but uncertain, increase in seed pro- 

 duction as the variety departs from the Cherry tomato, 

 but this increase bears no relation whatever to the 

 extent of departure. Now and then an orchard fruit 

 appears which is almost or wholly seedless, but it is 

 not necessarily of high quality. So-called "coreless" 

 apples and pears occasionally appear, but none of 

 them have ever had sufficient merit to warrant their 

 extensive propagation, Barron* mentions two No -Core 

 apples, one of which is recommended only for kitchen 

 use and the other is characterized as worthless. Seed- 



♦British Apples, 338 (1889). 



