Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 March 1905 — FRUIT MYSTERIES. [ARTICLE]

FRUIT MYSTERIES.

The Banana la Seedleee, Though Nobody Knows Why. The banana is seedless, or nearly so, and has been for centuries, though nobody knows why. It is propagated by suckers and possibly had no seeds when it was first found in its wild state. The banana is a modified berry. Cutting the fruit through the middle you will sometimes see a few little brown spots, which are the rudimentary seeds. Occasionally the banana does actually produce a few seeds. The pineapple Is seedless, being propagated likewise from suckers and from slips. The eggplant, which is a fruit, botanically speaking, is occasionally seedless. This plant is able to produce developed fruit whether the blossom is fertilized or not. Horticulturists are endeavoring at the same time to rid fruit plants of thorns. Some oranges and lemons are very thorny—for example, the high priced King orange, which is the best of the mandarins. The first trees were brought to the United States from Cochin China. In Florida its thorniness has been reduced by selecting buds from the branches with the fewest thorns. Thorns are objectionable because they puncture the oranges and lemons when the branches are blown about by the wind. Efforts are being made to get rid of the thorns on raspberry and blackberry plants simply for convenience in picking the fruit. The thorns are meant by nature to protect the plant from animals. Cultivators select those plants which happen to be thornless or nearly so. i