THE MONTHLY BULLETIN, 361 



High quality does not have the eoramercial value that it should, but 

 it is coming to be worth more and more. There are two kinds of taste, 

 natural taste and acquired taste. Only savages have a natural taste; 

 to them crude, unrefined, tasteless foods answer all purposes. But 

 civilized man has an acquired taste and with each succeeding stage 

 of civilization it becomes more delicate and more refined. Once they 

 but know where it can be obtained, people will buy and pay \for fruits 

 of high quality — fruits with delicate and refined flavors and aromas 

 and juicy, tender flesh. Such fruits should be the food of the great 

 mass of the American people, while coarse, turnipy fruits should go 

 only to those who can not tell the ditference between a Jonathan and 

 a Ben Davis, a Bartlett and a Kieifer. People need only to be educated 

 as to what varieties are of high quality, and a profitable demand will 

 be created. 



Can the quality of varieties of the different fruits be changed by 

 cultural methods? Possibly somewhat, but not greatly. Generally 

 speaking, whatever care and culture make trees grow and bear normally 

 tend to produce fruits of the highest quality. As I have said before, 

 food and water seem to have decided effects on quality, but what combi- 

 nation of these essentials is best for highest quality is a matter about 

 which Ave know little. "Paul plants and Apollos waters," but God 

 gives quality. In His distribution of favors He has seen fit to charac- 

 terize the fruits of some regions by higher quality than those of others 

 just as He has given large size and handsome color to the products 

 of special regions. 



In what has been said I have sought to establish the fact that high 

 quality is the chief of all the attributes of fruit. But there is little 

 use in this discussion if we can not come to some understanding as to 

 how the condition that 'prevails can be bettered. To this end a few 

 specific suggestions can be offered. 



First — The long suit of the fruit grower is to grow varieties of high 

 quality, A man should grow sorts for the market that he is willing 

 to eat himself. If individuals make a reputation for the high quality 

 of their fruits a reputation will soon be established for the region and 

 for the fruit. 



Second — Let every fruit grower deprecate above all things the oft 

 made assertion that the public wants trashy stuff — cares only for 

 appearance and not for quality. It iB the fashion of the times to decry 

 the public. Certain papers say the public wants only yellow jour- 

 nalism ; some writers hold that the people will read only light or vulgar 

 fiction ; rag-time music is supposed to suit the public ; theatres will 

 present only sensational plays; following the fashion, fruit growers 

 hold that the public has the tooth of a gorilla, the taste of a buzzard, 

 the stomach of an ostrich, and by choice fills its maw on Ben Davis 

 apples and Kieffer pears. It is not true that the public likes poor 

 fruit, the better the fruit the more of it will be eaten. People are 

 slow moving, but once they learn true worth in fruit, their appetite 

 will be for the good varieties. They will not be content with poor or 

 mediocre sorts. If the lover of choice viands, and who is not, must 

 wipe the tongue about the mouth and titillate the palate in order to 

 find the flavor of fruits, he will take to other delicacies. 



