1907. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE SPENCER SEED¬ 
LESS APPLE. 
Observations on the Spot. 
Part I. 
During a recent trip to Colorado. I stopped at Grand 
Junction to look over the magnificent country from 
Fruita to Palasade, and see what I could find out about 
that much exploited novelty, the Spencer Seedless 
apple. I spent two hours at the farm of John F. Spen¬ 
cer, and this is a brief report of what I saw: 
Mr. Spencer’s farm is on a low'ridge about two miles 
from Grand Junction. The orchards surrounding the 
house show evidence of fairly good care, but are by no 
means in better condition than the average orchard in 
this progressive valley. Mr. Spencer was not at home, 
but Mrs. Spencer took me out to the barn, where the 
hired man was sorting over some 25 bushels of Seedless 
apples. All of the photographs illustrating this article 
were taken just outside Mr. Spencer’s barn. 
I was informed that all of the best apples had been 
sorted out and sent to the various agents who are 
booming the variety in other States. However, I picked 
out quite a number that the man said were as good as 
the average in size, color and fairness. Four of these 
are shown in Fig. GO. From these, and other specimens 
that I have seen exhibited by agents, as well as from 
remarks by Colorado fruit growers who know the 
variety, I feel that the following description fairly re¬ 
presents it. The fruit is of medium size, flattened and 
often one-sided. In the sun the fruit is dull red nearly 
over the entire surface, marked with many large whit¬ 
ish dots; in the shade it is the color of an eastern 
Seek-no-Further. The color is good, but not nearly as 
bright and attractive as the color of the Jonathan, Gano 
and Winesap grown in the same locality. 
On examining the -fruit one immediately notices the 
calyx end, or “navel,” as it is called. The calyx tube, 
instead of being short as in ordinary varieties, is long 
and broad, and extends to the middle of the fruit in 
many specimens. I cut several fruits in which it was 
over an inch long. There seem to be two sets of calyx 
lobes. The outer lobes are long, hairy and leathery. 
Alternating with these are thick, fleshy lobes which 
point inward. Sometimes a short rudimentary set of 
calyx lobes appears further inside. 
I cut open 25 or 20 fruits to investigate the “seed¬ 
less” character of this novelty. Figs. 58-59 tell the story. 
In over half of these I found from two to five seeds, 
although most of them were shrunken. But what inter¬ 
ested me most was that in.over three-fourths of the 
specimens that I examined the cores .were apparently 
well developed. 1 chewed on them hopefully but the 
tough partitions that separate the cells of the core got 
between my teeth and were just as obnoxious as those 
in the core of a Yankee Baldwin. Some specimens 
have more core than others, but all that I saw had 
enough core to require the use of a corer on them be¬ 
fore they are put into the baking pan. 
A large percentage of the apples were wormy, al¬ 
though they had been sprayed. Even the hired man, 
who is enthusiastic over the apple, admitted that it was 
• even more likely to get wormy than other sorts. This 
could not be otherwise, for the large calyx offers a 
snug hiding place for insects. I found the flavor of 
the best specimens to be mild sub-acid and the texture 
rather tough and woody. I would consider it consid¬ 
erably below medi¬ 
ocrity in quality. It 
does not compare 
favorably with Rome 
Beauty and, in my 
judgment, is no better 
than a Colorado- 
grown Gano; but 
some people, better 
judges than myself, 
rank it higher. In 
season the fruit 
would be classed as 
midwinter to late 
Winter. It is appar¬ 
ently a good keeper. 
The specimens I 
brought back with 
me have stood up 
well under abuse, proving its claims in this regard. 
In regard to the “seedless” character of the fruit. 
It has been claimed that if the trees are surrounded with 
other varieties, as are those in Mr. Spencer’s orchard, 
they will have some seeds, and these I saw certainly 
did; but that if the trees are planted alone, so that no 
pollen from another variety can reach the blossoms, no 
seeds will be formed. I saw a picture of the blossoms 
and verified what the picture showed by inquiry of a 
man who has examined the blossoms carefully. The 
blossoms have no petals, apparently not even the rudi¬ 
ments of petals. Neither have they any well developed 
stamens. There are often rudimentary stamens, but 
no pollen is produced; hence, if the blossoms need 
pollen in order to set fruit, the variety must be planted 
with other sorts. Perhaps it does not; that would be 
an interesting point to discover. Another peculiarity is 
that there are 12 to 15 pistils, usually 15, instead of 
five, as in the blossoms of most other varieties. 
I went into the orchard to see the 25 or more “orig¬ 
inal” trees They are apparently about 14 years old 
and are of good habit and average vigor although in¬ 
clined to be a little straggling, as the picture shows, 
Fig. 61. The new wood had been mostly cut off to be 
used for propagation. The trees looked as though they 
had borne good crops, and I learned from other sources 
that they bear moderate crops, not as heavy as Gano 
“TIIE BROOK BENEATH THE SNOW.” Fig. 62. 
and Jonathan, and that they come into bearing about 
as early as, but no later than these varieties do in this 
locality. 
I returned from my visit feeling that so far as the 
tree in concerned the Spencer Seedless apple is all right, 
but that the fruit itself does not possess the essential 
points of a profitable market variety. It is interesting 
and unique, and may be the progenitor of something 
valuable in the future, but of itself I do not consider 
it worthy of commercial planting. The information 
concerning this variety that 1 gleaned from interviews 
with Colorado fruit growers will be presented in a 
following article. s. w. fletcher. 
Michigan Agricultural College. 
THE CULTURE OF LETTUCE. 
Can Boston head lettuce he raised on sandy loam? If so, 
what culture is needed? What kind of seed, and where can 
It be obtained? When and how should it be sown? What 
fertilizers? What should it yield? It is grown exten¬ 
sively on muck, and I would like to learn its culture on 
upland. a. H. p. , 
New York. 
Where choice can be had a rich sandy loam should 
always be selected for growing lettuce of all kinds. 
When grown on clayey soils it is usually more suscep¬ 
tible to diseases and blight, such as leaf burn, a decay¬ 
ing disease at the heart, at the very critical time when 
forming the heads. Another very troublesome and dis¬ 
couraging disease is the leaf drop, so named by growers 
because of its peculiar habits. This much-dreaded dis¬ 
ease usually makes its appearance in beds that are 
apparently in a thrifty, growing condition, when sud¬ 
denly and without any indications the leaves will all 
drop flat upon the ground; the plant will then wilt and 
die at once. This disease, however, is more trouble¬ 
some- where the crop is forced in glasshouses or by 
other artificial means. Dog-eared lettuce is also fre¬ 
quently found in our lettuce beds; this sometimes cuts 
down the average yield to some extent. The leaves in¬ 
stead of folding into heads as they should do, will 
form straight, imperfect hard ribs, slightly burned on 
the edges suggesting to us the appearance of dogs’ ears 
when neatly cut. The cause of these diseases is not 
always known, but they are always more troublesome 
on clay soil or poorly drained lands. It is therefore 
very important to select suitable soils for lettuce grow¬ 
i47 
ing, for- it is without doubt a money crop for the skil¬ 
ful grower, but a source of annoyance and disappoint¬ 
ment, and even loss, to those who are not close observ¬ 
ing in the management of their beds. In fact, success¬ 
ful lettuce growing is more of an art than a science, 
and it does seem that a certain amount of practical ex¬ 
perience is altogether necessary to grow and market a 
crop of good lettuce. 
As before stated, the soil is perhaps the most im¬ 
portant thing to consider. The market gardener who has 
a variety of soils and situations may make such selec¬ 
tions as most favorable for its cultivation. I have seen 
certain sandy soils where lettuce would appear to be 
immune from all diseases, and a crop could be grown 
for a number of years without change of soil. Grow¬ 
ing lettuce for market, the plants are usually grown 
from seed sown in open ground late in September, trans¬ 
planted into cold frames by the end of October. Win¬ 
tered over in this way they can be planted out as soon 
as the ground can be worked in Spring. Set the plants 
10 or .12 inches apart in the rows. Seed should be 
sown in the open ground at the same time, and for a 
succession every two weeks thereafter until September. 
Thin the plants to a stand of 12 inches; cultivate often 
and thoroughly. The ground should be heavily man¬ 
ured with stable manure for best results. Where this 
has been omitted the plants should be side-dressed with 
nitrate of soda at least twice during the season of 
growth. The best variety is perhaps Big Boston; this 
variety for general use is more extensively grown than 
all others. The seed may be obtained from any reliable 
seed house; large growers, however, prefer to know 
where their seed is grown, and what to depend upon. 
Varieties of lettuce are exceedingly numerous and a 
large majority of them are of little value, and should 
not be grown except for trial. T. M. white. 
New Jersey. 
FARM LABOR PROBLEM AGAIN. 
That Mrs. Ives’s article, pages 957-958, represents 
conditions so true, as found in any New England 
town, is my only excuse for further discussing the 
matter. Yes, overwork for all does not make the farm 
home pleasant or enjoyable. And how many sweet- 
tempered and pleasant people can be found in that 
class? Either it is the fault of the opportunities of¬ 
fered for a fair living by the average New England 
farm, or it is the fault of the farmers themselves, that 
conditions are such that few wish to go upon outlying 
farms and make long hours of labor, when other occu¬ 
pations offer more of leisure and better pay. Until 
farmers wake up to the fact that they must demand 
prices for their products which will give themselves 
and their help as good wages as other occupations they 
will occunv both socially and financially a position which 
will not encourage the younger generation to adopt 
farming. Neither have I any sympathv with those who 
advocate cheap labor. Chinese, Japanese, etc., and who 
would in time bring the small and poor farmers to their 
own level and make the conditions for large and exten¬ 
sive farming much more favorable than at present. 
Too long hours of manual labor with little rest, or 
recreation for himself or family, has made farm life on 
many a farm a life of grinding toil, with little to en¬ 
courage or make life worth living. ' Such conditions 
make men lack confidence both in themselves and their 
business. It makes them look up and cringe before others 
who occupy more fav¬ 
orable positions in 
the community, and 
instead of depending 
upon themselves, 
which makes men 
brave, self-reli a n t, 
forceful, run after 
somebody’s else re¬ 
flected moonshine. We 
can illustrate it best 
by a true incident. 
At a farmers’ club 
meeting they dis¬ 
cussed the effect of the 
tariff on farm proper¬ 
ty. We have in 
mind two farmers 
who made themselves 
the champions of the poor laboring man, and compared 
his better wages and shorter hours of labor with other 
countries, etc. At the next meeting a resolution was 
made in favor of 60 hours of labor with the necessary 
chores on Sunday making a legal week’s work on the 
farm. Both the speakers of the previous meeting op¬ 
posed such a law, stating if they could not work their 
help more than 10 hours a day they could not make 
their farms pay. The writer said then and will repeat 
it now that a farm which will not support a family on 
10 hours of labor a day would better be abandoned 
and grow up to woodland, which will pay a profit on 
its growth, even be it a small one. R. Q. heap, 
