THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
59 
of 100 or 150 acres farmed in the ordinary way. Probably 
the best illustration of intensive farming is to be found in the 
vegetable growing sections of Long Island. 
Farmers and fruit growers must adapt themselves to chang¬ 
ing conditions or go to the wall. Happy is the man who 
recognizes the danger signals in time to adjust his business 
to the new conditions. 
We trust that the readers of the National Nurseryman 
have been interested in the pointed discussion of this subject 
which has occurred in recent numbers of 
this journal. The question is, should not 
nurserymen have clearly defined standards 
for the different classes and grades of 
nursery stock? 
Fruit shippers have these standards established for the 
various grades of fruit, and they have something to fall back 
upon when dispute or difference of opinion arise. At present 
each wholesaler maintaines his own ideal of grade and quality: 
and if it is high and rigidly adhered to, his goods acquire a 
reputation in the market and are sought after. The estimate 
of another nurseryman may differ radically, largely because 
the two men maintain different ideals. These differences 
occasionally give rise to misunderstandings and little un¬ 
pleasantnesses between buyer and seller. 
As there is no recognized standard, there is no satisfactory 
basis for adjustment, and troubles are not easily settled. We 
are drawing attention editorially, to this important subject, 
for the purpose of enlisting the interest and co-operation of 
those affected by the establishment of such grades, in the hope 
that out of the discussion something definite will grow. 
Whether this occurs or not, the discussion, we believe, will 
prove profitable. We are also of the opinion that this subject 
should be thoroughly ventilated at the annual meeting in 
June, and that if no satisfactory conclusion is possible at that 
time, a committee should be appointed to take the whole 
question under advisement and report at a later date. 
For the past three or four months the columns of the horti¬ 
cultural press have been liberally tinctured with striking 
announcements and extraordinary claims 
regarding the discovery by a certain John 
Spencer, of Grand Junction, Col., of a 
seedless apple. This has created an un¬ 
usual furore in the horticultural world, due 
probably to shrewd advertising on the part of the promoters 
of this creation. 
There are several points involved, worth discussing. First, 
is the fact of creation. There is nothing so unusual about 
seedless apples as to raise even a slight doubt as to the possi¬ 
bility of their appearance. For the past two hundred years 
they have been chronicled from time to time. Recently the 
word “ coreless ” has been substituted for the first name given. 
This is quite another proposition, and we are inclined to ques¬ 
tion the propriety of using the name. 
The cause of this variety is certainly being injured in the 
sight of thinking, fair minded people, by the many in¬ 
accuracies of statement, and extravagant claims made for it. 
Some of these claims are not only improbable, but absolutely 
absurd. It has received a great deal of notoriety by^clever 
advertising schemes. From the character of the articles 
which have appeared, one would think that hack writers had 
been employed; and through their influence the apple has 
found its way into the columns of such papers as the Scien¬ 
tific American , and from thence to the literary journals. 
The facts seem to be that an apple tree bearing blossoms 
without petals (apetalous) was also found to produce apples 
with few or no seeds. This is quite within the range of 
probability, because it usually follows that one abnormality is 
accompanied by another. The young trees perpetuate, as one 
would expect, the freakishness of the parent. The promoters 
now proceed to claim that original and peculiar methods were 
employed to bring this seedless variety into being. This at 
once raises a doubt in the mind of the plantsman, as to the 
value of the whole thing, because animal and plant breeders 
have learned that nature cannot be depended upon to obey 
absolutely any method in propagating by sexual means. So 
we reject this claim as untenable, and to that extent other 
assertions are materially weakened. 
Let us have a seedless and coreless apple by all means, but 
let the whole matter of introduction be a square deal, and be 
upon the merits of the variety. Let the fruit be exhibited and 
be passed upon by competent authority, before it is exploited 
and offered to a susceptible public. We have no quarrel 
whatever with varieties of‘merit, but we view with suspicious 
eyes any fruit which is being as extensively advertised as this, 
so long in advance of introduction and actual trial. 
The way in which certain flowers at occasional periods come 
to the front and occupy public attention emphasizes the state¬ 
ment that fashions in flowers do exist. 
interest in To President McKinley is due much of the 
PEONIES. credit of popularizing and making the 
carnation, a fashionable flower in recent 
years. The Orchid in England has held its place as the flower 
of the exclusives by the efforts of certain of the aristocracy 
who are horticulturally inclined. 
Just now, the good old-fashioned plant of grandmother’s 
garden, the peony, is receiving some of that attention. Much 
of this is to be credited to the efforts of the American Peony 
Association. 
A number of interesting and valuable articles on the peony 
have appeared in various horticultural periodicals during the 
past few months. One of these, entitled “Notes on the 
Cultivation of Peonies,” was recently presented, before the 
Massachusetts Horticultural Society by Dr. Robert Tracy 
Jackson, of Cambridge. Mr. Jackson says that there are 
about two dozens species of peonies known to botanists. 
Only a few of these appear to contribute forms which have 
been generally cultivated. 
The first peony blooms of the spring are given us by Paeonia 
tenuifolia. Of these there are single and double forms ap¬ 
pearing in May. The coloring of this type is exceedingly 
brilliant and the single forms are particularly striking. Fol¬ 
lowing this finely cut-leafed variety come the forms which 
belong to Peonia officinalis, variety rubra. Here is the true 
peony of old-fashioned gardens. It is after all, probably the 
best of the whole list. Other varieties of this form are the 
rose-colored and the white, or pinkish white; they follow the 
double red and are useful in extending the season. 
THE GRADING 
OF NURSERY 
STOCK. 
SEEDLESS 
APPLE 
EXCITEMENT. 
