1904. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
82 7 
THE “SEEDLESS APPLE” SCHEME. 
Some Facts Worth Considering. 
It is likely that many readers have read newspaper 
accounts of a so-called “seedless” apple which was orig¬ 
inated in Colorado. Newspapers are always glad to 
print accounts of these “novelties,” and this one had 
a wide circulation. Later it was announced that a 
stock company had been formed to propagate and sell 
trees of this apple. Stock is offered at $1 per share. 
It is stated that the trees will be sold at $3 each, a 
profit of $2.50 on each tree. As the company is to have 
a monopoly it is claimed that on 50,000 trees there 
will be a profit of $125,000 from an investment of only 
$5,000. The company promises to advertise the trees as 
nothing else ever was advertised. 
For the benefit of its readers The R. N.-Y. purposes 
to investigate this apple and the scheme for selling it. 
We have not been able to obtain specimens of this 
“seedless” apple for examination. We have, however, 
obtained another so-called “bloomless” fruit which was 
sent to a nurseryman for introduction. Pictures of 
this are shown at Fig. 383 to illustrate how far the 
seedless feature holds good. There were no seeds in 
the apple, but a well defined core. At the time this 
apple was tested it was far better suited to be used as 
a cannon ball than for human consumption. It has 
few points of beauty either in shape or color. No one 
would select it for the qualities that have made other 
varieties desirable. 
Origin of the Apple. 
The following statement from a well-known and 
careful fruit authority is considered fair: 
“As to the claim that the originator had developed 
this apple under very careful experiment, the facts are 
about these: There is an apple pretty near coreless and 
seedless, the stock of which was taken to .Colorado 
from the original tree somewhere in south Indiana or 
Kentucky. The “originator” of this variety, liking its 
coreless qualities, has propagated trees from the parent 
tree by the ordinary process of root-grafting, and it 
is this root-grafting that he and the boomers think is 
a ‘scientific process’ of developing this wonderful apple. 
If the apple itself had any special merit over some of 
our own best standard kinds it might be worth propa¬ 
gating. I have not tasted the apple, but have been told 
it has no decided points of merit, except having little 
or no core. If the trees were for sale at ordinary 
nursery prices it might be well to buy a tree or two, but 
to pay fancy prices or take any stock would be an un¬ 
business-like transaction.” 
We are informed by a well-known nurseryman that 
parties in Colorado have offered to sell him trees of this 
“seedless” apple at $1,000 
per tree! He replied that 
he would not give $100 
“for the whole business— 
lock, stock and barrel.” 
We now give opinions 
from men wTio are well 
known; next week we 
shall give the views of one 
of the best authorities in 
the country. 
It Is Probably Merely a 
“Sport 
Of course, as to the 
facts behind this seedless 
apple, I know nothing of 
them. If it is in existence 
it is a sport, and the his¬ 
tory of almost all of these 
sports is that they are 
quite likely to revert back. 
This, however, might not 
be so with a fruit of this 
kind. I cannot see any 
advantages accruing from 
any attempt to grow a 
fruit of this kind, but as 
Barnum once said,, “The masses of the people are de¬ 
termined to be humbugged,” and quite likely there will 
be enough who will grab at the bait thus extended 
them. If the thing has merit, then the one sending 
it out ought to advise the public what this merit is, and 
they could well afford to have some one who is author¬ 
ity make a personal examination of the tree in fruit 
for the purpose of giving the people a statement of 
what they think. This is my view of this matter, and 
certainly I should not make, nor would I advise any of 
my friends to make, investments in a thing they know 
nothing about. s. d. willard. 
Should Be Something Besides “ Coreless.” 
It is difficult to get a new apple that can compete 
with the many hundred well-known varieties, even if 
they are accompanied with cores. Hence you can see 
that it must be about impossible to secure a seedless 
apple that will possess the many requirements of first- 
class fruit. I should expect, therefore, that a seedless 
apple would have defects, and that it would be expect¬ 
ing too much that it should be a seedless apple and 
at the same time be as beautiful, firm and good a keeper 
as Baldwin, or that it would equal in quality others of 
a better class. There is a seedless apple in Virginia 
and another in some part of the country, but these are 
lacking in the characteristics we most desire in an 
apple. Yes, T think if we could get a seedless apple 
possessing desirable characteristics there would be a 
demand for it. The Wilder Early pear and the Sheldon 
are almost seedless. The core of these two pears can 
be eaten; it is tender and there is no tough substance 
surrounding it. Those who buy an apple simply be- 
TWO GOOD FRIENDS AT PASTURE. Fig. 382. 
cause it is seedless without knowing about' its other 
characteristics will be likely to be deceived. 
C. A. GREEN. 
Investigate it First. 
I hesitate to express myself for publication concern¬ 
ing the “Colorado seedless apple,” for the simple reason 
that I have never seen the fruit, and know nothing 
regarding it. I have no hesitancy, however, in saying 
that as a nurseryman I would not propagate this variety 
except after the most careful investigation, and such 
investigation would have to satisfy me that the fruit 
was of exceptional quality, good appearance, and that 
the tree was hardy and productive; and, last but not 
least, that the seedless type was firmly fixed. An abso¬ 
lutely seedless apple of high quality would, I think, have 
some advantages over the ordinary fruit, but I am not 
prepared to believe that the seedless apple of distinctive 
merit has come. I would be glad to get a few scions 
for the purpose of top-grafting a young tree simply to 
test the fruit as a curiosity. Howard a. chase. 
What Are Its Good Qualities ? 
I have never seen the seedless apple, nor the tree, nor 
the flower, I think it very doubtful whether such an apple 
will ever be a good commercial fruit. The apples should 
be tested as to productiveness, hardiness, keeping qual¬ 
ities, quality of fruit, color, size, etc., before recom¬ 
mended for general planting. Besides this adaptability 
to our different soils and climate and locations must be 
settled before it should be recommended. 
L. A. GOODMAN. 
A Fair Statement of the Matter. 
While it is doubtful whether the seedless apple now 
being introduced by Colorado men fulfills all of the 
claims made for it, there is certainly some truth in 
what they state regarding it. It is often spoken of as 
a bloomless apple, but this is not strictly true, as, al¬ 
though the petals are lacking, the trees produce flowers 
which have well-developed calyx lobes, and stamens 
and ovules are developed in the ovary. While I have 
not seen a fully developed fruit, several that were prob¬ 
ably two-thirds grown have been examined. In these 
fruits the seeds were rudimentary, appearing merely as 
minute black specks. The “core” or the horny carpels 
with which the seeds are ordinarily enclosed is but 
slightly developed and the walls are thin and almost 
paper-like. To this' extent, then, it is possible to have 
a seedless apple. Although it is hardly probable that 
this variety will be free from the attack ot the Codling 
moth, as is claimed by the introducers, the fact that the 
fruit has no seeds and the core is but slightly developed 
will certainly be in its favor. So far as can be learned 
from persons who have bearing trees in Colorado, the 
fruit is of only medium size and of fair flavor. Al¬ 
though the Colorado seedless apples, do not seem espe¬ 
cially promising, it is more than probable that only a 
few years will elapse before varieties will be developed 
which will compare well with the best kinds grown to¬ 
day in size, color, texture and flavor, and which will 
be coreless as well as seedless. l. r. taft. 
The Value of Seedless Fruit. 
I have heard of the new seedless appfe in Colorado, 
but know nothing of its value as a fruit. For evap¬ 
orating purposes I should think a seedless apple would 
have increased value, but for general use I do not see 
that this feature would be especially important; cer¬ 
tainly not enough so to overcome indifferent quality. 
To my mind it would chiefly hinge on that. In other 
words, a Jonathan without seeds would be more valuable 
than one with seeds, but a Ben Davis without seeds 
would still be simply a “Ben Davis.” The seeds in an 
apple bear no sort of comparison to the seeds in an 
orange, and their presence or absence would not affect 
the value of the two fruits relatively. An orange with¬ 
out seeds is unquestionably much more valuable than 
one with seeds, but I should advise prospective buyers 
to go slow in investing largely in a seedless apple until 
it had been quite thoroughly tested. geo. a. sweet. 
SEPARATING CREAM AT HOME. 
A Creamery Man’s Views. 
I am proprietor of a creamery and have no dairy sepa¬ 
rator, but I have been interested in the discussion, and 
the arguments for and against the cream gathering sys¬ 
tem. As far as I can learn the advantages to the 
patrons arc, having sweet milk to feed to their calves 
(which is an advantage 
when the calves are 
young) and the saving 
the hauling of the milk 
as compared with the 
cream. Among the dis¬ 
advantages is the danger 
of making an inferior 
grade of butter unless the 
cream is carefully handled 
and properly cooled and 
delivered daily through 
the warm weather. I 
think the cream should 
be delivered by the pa¬ 
trons themselves or by 
some one in each locality 
delivering several of the 
neighbors’ cream. My 
reasons are that it will 
be delivered earlier in the 
day and be in better con¬ 
dition for sampling; the 
sampling and weighing 
can be done by some one 
competent person at the 
creamery; the cream can 
sooner by tempered to the 
proper temperature and then starter can be added. 
THOS. F. RUTHERFORD. 
FAILURE OF LIME AND SULPHUR. 
Last Spring I gave all my fruit trees a thorough 
spraying with lime, sulphur and salt and find it did no 
good whatever. Had no fruit of any account and that 
all covered with scale and the trees looking at present 
very badly. I find a friend used crude oil last Spring 
with very good results and recommends me to do the 
same next Spring, but not this Fall, as he says it will 
injure the trees. Now I am afraid to wait until Spring 
and think they should be sprayed this Fall, so write for 
information as to what should be done. I note in your ):s f 
issues you speak of a limoid solution, but have failed to 
notice what such a solution is and also do not under¬ 
stand about the per cent strength. b. w. c. 
R. N.-Y.—We would not use the crude oil until late 
Winter or early Spring. The limoid and kerosene is 
worth trying. It was fully explained last W<;ql\, 
SECTIONS OF SO-CALLED “BLOOMLESS” APPLE. Fig. 383. 
