FORTY-SEOOND ANNUAL REPORT. 17 



A Member — What is in the rind of that apple there before us that 

 makes it so dark, and this apple so much lighter. Has that ever been 

 answered? 



Answer — This is because of the different characteristics of the apple. 



A Member — Then is it the sunshine that does it — that puts the rind 

 on the apple? 



Mr. Bassett — It is because of the pigment which responds to the 

 coloring. The apple is white because there is an absence of pigment. 



Prof. Eustace — A part of it will come from sunshine, and another 

 part from some. source which has not vet been discovered. You take 

 an apple tree that is growing on poor soil, but where the sun has kissed 

 that apple, and you get that color. A tree growing on a cold clay soil, 

 you do not get the same color you do where the same tree is growing 

 on a warm limestone soil — you get a good deal better color in the 

 latter case. Sometimes the difference is so marked that it is difficult 

 to identify them. Then if you put a bag over some of these apples, they 

 will be grayish green. Just how much on one and how much on the 

 other is due to sunshine or the other elements, I do not know. 



A Member — Why will grass grow bristles on a hog and wool on the 

 back of a sheep? I think the same thing applies in the case of the 

 apple. 



Mr. Hall — There is a great difference in the pulp? 



A Member — Does the color of the pulp make a difference in the color 

 of the skin? 



Prof. Eustace — Take this Northern Spy that is well colored; let the 

 chemist analyze it, then another apple grown on the same tree of a 

 grayish green — there is a decided difference in the taste. I have somo 

 students right now working right along that line, and they find that 

 they are able often to detect the difference in the taste and tell the 

 color of the sic in from the taste alone. 



A Member — Then does not the degree of ripeness have something to 

 do with it? 



Prof. Eustace : At the Geneva Station they have been carrying on an 

 experiment of determining the flavor of apples on cultivated soil and 

 on sod, and T am sure that you would all say that the apples from 

 the trees on the cultivated part was much finer in texture and more 

 tasty than those grown on the sod. It was my job to inspect these ap- 

 ples in cold storage for the Government, and I noticed this, and re- 

 marked upon it, and then I tried it on every man around the place — 1 

 said, "You eat this apple, and this, and tell me if you can distinguish 

 any difference," and in every case they could tell the difference. 



A Member — Was the lightest colored apple the best? 



Prof. Eustace — The apples on the sod were the highest colored. The 

 point may be, these apples Avere possibly over-ripe — they may have 

 passed that point when they were not at the best in their life history. 

 Some varieties of apples, when their chemical and physical properties 

 are just right are better than at any other time. 



A Member — Overloading of the trees may take the flavor out of the 

 apples? 



Prof. Eustace — I would not wonder but that would have such an 

 effect. 



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