The Canadian Horticultun^ 



Vol. XXIX 



OCTOBER, 1906 



No. 10 



A Report on the Spencer Seedless Apple 



THE spencer Seedless apple has in- 

 vaded Canada. A company of 

 prominent men in Toronto has been 

 formed to promote the business. It is 

 to be called the Spencer Seedless Apple 

 Co., of Toronto. Among those gentle- 

 men most interested are: Mr. J. T. Sheri- 

 dan, president of the Pease Foundry Co., 

 and Mr. A. G. Allan, of the White, Allan 

 Co. At the request of the company, the 

 Hon. John Dryden, until lately Minister 

 of Agriculture for Ontario, visited Grand 

 Junction, Col., which is said to be the 

 home of the seedless apple. While there 

 he investigated the merits of the apple. A 

 full report of his observations, with con- 

 clusions, is here published. 



While The Horticulturist knows 

 that Mr. Dryden is sincere in his deduc- 

 tions, we feel that his investigations 

 were not carried far enough to warrant 

 such sweeping conclusions and, there- 

 fore, would advise fruit growers to be 

 cautious in taking hold of this apple. 

 It has been condemned by most fruit 

 and^nursery papers in the United States, 

 andj^by many leading horticulturists, in- 

 cluding Prof. John Craig, of Cornell, and 

 Prof. Van Deman, former pomologist 

 for the Department of Agriculture, 

 Washington. 



Questions concerning this apple that, 

 as far as we know, have not been an- 

 swered satisfactorily as yet, include the 

 following: 



Why have the various experiment sta- 

 tions in the United States and Canada 

 never been given an opportunity to in- 

 vestigate and report on the quality of 

 this fruit? 



How has it been possible for the com- 

 pany back of the apple, in the short 

 time since the apple has become known, 

 to produce enough stock to enable it to 

 supply 25,000 trees to the Canadian 

 growers alone, to say nothing of the 

 hundreds of thousands of trees that are 

 being offered for sale at large prices in 

 the United States and, we understand, 

 in Great Britain also? 



What guarantee will the growers who 

 buy these trees have, that the stock they 

 purchase are true to name and will the 

 guarantee that, it is said, will be given, 

 be a satisfactory one? It will be several 



years before these trees will come into 

 bearing and many things may happen 

 in the interval. Further comments may 

 be found in the editorial column in this 

 issue. 



MR. DRYDRN'S report 



Spencer vSeedless Apple Co., of To- 

 ronto, Limited, — 

 Gentlemen, — Pursuant to arrangement 

 I proceeded to Grand Junction, Colorado, 

 for the purpose of personally examining 

 the trees and fruit of the Spencer Seed- 

 less apple. I arrived early in the after- 

 noon of Tuesday, September 11, and 

 immediately drove out about two miles 

 to the farm of Mr. Spencer. Here, I 

 saw altogether 27 trees in full bearing. 



It is tHe Best ! 



I would like to express my appre- 

 ciation of the great improvements 

 you have made in The Canadian 

 Horticulturist. It is the best 

 fruit paper I get, and I have about 

 all that are published on this con- 

 tinent, and several from England. 

 —Prof. F. C. Sears, Truro, N.S. 



I was informed that the oldest trees were 

 12 years old, and the youngest in the 

 orchard six years old. Twenty-six of 

 these trees are planted in two rows, 13 

 in each, with other varieties of apples 

 on either side. The additional tree 

 stands alone, surrounded, also, by other 

 varieties. I was informed that there 

 were at least a dozen more trees scattered 

 in different parts of the orchard. I 

 spent some time in a close inspection of 

 the growing trees, as well as the apple 

 itself, with a view of determining what, 

 in my judgment, would be its commer- 

 cial value. It was a great pity I could 

 not have delayed my visit until, say, 

 the middle of October, when the fruit 

 would have matured, showing its full 

 size and natural color, but my return to 

 Ireland at that time made it impossible 

 to delay. The specimens I brought 

 from Colorado show plenty of size, but 

 are without a vestige of color. The top- 

 most apples were just beginning to turn, 

 and when mature, I am told, show a 



243 



beautiful red with small yellow spots> 

 giving a very pretty appearance. 



There are, in my opinion, several 

 characteristics which are essential in the 

 production of a commercial apple suited 

 to the requirements of the average fruit 

 grower. First, a hearty and vigorous 

 grower, insuring maturity without wait- 

 ing too long, as in the case of some 

 varieties with which I am familiar. In 

 this respect 1 found that the Spencer 

 Seedless apple fulfils every requirement. 

 The general appearance of the trees, the 

 luxuriant leaves, the length of the young 

 shoots, as well as the size of the trees 

 which I examined, considering their age, 

 all indicated a quick growing tree. 



Secondly, will they do well in the Can- 

 adian climate? That has yet to be 

 tested in practice, but their abundant 

 success in Grand Junction, showing a 

 hardy character in a climate ranging 

 from 100 degrees of heat in July and 

 August to 12 or more below zero in mid- 

 winter, is an evidence that a similar re- 

 sult would be obtained in Canada. 



The third essential is an early bearing 

 quality. In this respect my visit leaves 

 no doubt whatever. The first apple crop 

 was given when these trees were four 

 years old, and these were the only apples 

 of that year produced in Mr. Spencer's 

 orchard. A heavy frost on the night of 

 April 17 destroyed everything else. The 

 trees have continued to bear regularly 

 ever since. This year, 1906, somefof the 

 young trees, being grown in a nursery in 

 another state, and only about 15 inches 

 high, carried some specimens of fruit 

 until they were taken off in order that 

 the growth of the trees should not be 

 retarded. The entire experience with 

 these apples show extremely early bear- 

 ing tendencies. 



My fourth essential characteristic is, 

 will the Seedless apple tree bear a good 

 crop and continue it year by year? From 

 what I saw, as well as from repeated 

 conversations with Mr. Spencer, I am 

 satisfied as to this point also. Perhaps 

 the answer which will appeal to the 

 members of your company with the 

 greatest force will be the appearance of 

 the snap-shot photographs taken in'the 

 orchard as I was busy inspecting the 



