Page 8 



BETTER FRUIT 



November 



Fifth — Nurserymen can do much to 

 encourage the growing of good fruit 

 and to secure tlie appropriate recogni- 

 tion of higti quality. The country is 

 filled with men and women from city, 

 town and country who want to grow 

 fruit for pleasure and profit. When 

 these embryonic fruitgrowers pick the 

 shell and get ready to plant, they go to 

 a nurseryman for trees. Now- if the 

 nurseryman will sell all unfledged 

 fruitgrowers varieties of quality rather 

 than what they can spare, fruit grow- 

 ing and, in the long run, the nursery 

 trade will be helped. Some nursery- 

 men hold it to be their inalienable 

 right to substitute when varieties run 

 short. If all such will only slip in a 

 choicely good variety instead of an odd 

 or an end there will be less poor fruit. 

 Nurserymen say they grow the varie- 

 ties that fruitgrowers want. In reality, 

 however, they very largely force plant- 

 ers to take sorts that grow readily and 

 make good-looking trees in the nur- 

 sery. Trees for the orchard must be 

 grown in the nursery; trees grown in 

 the nursery must be sold to the fruit- 

 grower; the weal or the woe of the 

 fruitgrow-er is the weal or the woe of 

 the nurseryman. If tree growers would 

 push the sale of varieties and trees that 

 are truly most useful to the tree 

 planter, nurserymen, fruitgrowers and 

 the public all will be gainers thereby. 



Sixth — It should be the business of 

 horticultural societies, one and all, to 

 make the public familiar with the 

 names and the qualities of fruits. With 

 this knowledge fruit buyers would pay 

 the ditference between good and poor 

 (uiality varieties, just as they pay the 

 difference between a porterhouse and 

 a pot stew. Why should they not? 

 There are several ways of reaching the 

 public in this matter. Fruitgrowers 

 and their customers may both gain 

 knowledge of what are the best fruits, 

 and which of them may be grown, by 

 a full and frank discussion of the 

 whole matter at horticultural meetings. 

 County and state fruit organizations 

 ought to do more in the way of making 

 instructive exhibits both at their meet- 

 ings and at the fairs. In these exhibits 

 much more attention ought to be i)aid 

 to fancy fruit — high quality fruit. In- 

 deed, it seems certain that higher pre- 

 miums ought always to be otVered for 

 choicely good fi-uits than for the varie- 

 ties of jjoorer quality. 



In conclusion: Why discuss this mat- 

 ter? Is it to encourage growing fruit 

 onlv for a select few who have the 

 cultivated taste? Not by any means. 

 The common taste which falls to with 

 a vigorous appetite upon any fruit pre- 

 sented is now, and must ever be, the 

 chief customer of the fruit grower. But 

 the taste of the nudtitude should be 

 educated by all possible means for bet- 

 ter and better fruits. Why? Because 

 in the long run it means the consump- 

 tion of a great deal more fruit the 

 country over. Is it reprehensible to 

 grow fruits of poor quality? Possibly 

 not, but it would mean in the course of 

 time the wijiing out, root and branch, 

 of the fruit industry if all fruit growers 



grew poor varieties; besides it would 

 present the vile and sordid spectacle of 

 people ileliberately devoting themselves 

 to growing poor fruit when they might 

 as well grow good fruit. Is high (|ual- 

 ity the only requisite of a good variety? 

 No indeed. There are a score of requi- 

 sites of fruit and tree that go to make 

 a good variety, but among these quality 

 is not now receiving appropriate recog- 

 nition, and it is for such recognition 

 that I am pleading. Is this a matter of 

 sentiment oi- of business? Both. I am 

 not averse to jjutting some sentiment in 

 fruit growing, but I hope I have not 

 been arguing before a packed jury in 

 trying to convince my readers that it 

 is good business as well as sentiment 

 to grow good fruit. 



Dried Fruits An Economical 

 and Valuable Diet 



Fresh fruits are divided into two 

 classes, "flavor fruits" and "food fruits," 

 according as they are valued for their 

 flavor or as a food, according to the 

 Office of Nutrition Investigations for 

 the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture. Those that are 80 per cent or 

 more w^ater fall under the first classi- 

 fication (apples, pears, peaches and 

 most of our common fruits), while 

 those containing less fall under the 

 latter (bananas, grapes and figs). The 

 food value of a pound of dried fruit is, 

 of course, much greater than that of a 

 pound of fresh fruit. A pound of the 

 latter will yield an average of about six 

 ounces dried, but the amount of water 

 in the orginal fruit is no guide to the 

 food value of the dried product. The 

 main change which takes place during 

 drying is the loss of water, but other 

 changes also occur. Very often the 

 right degree of heat produces changes 

 not unlike those which occur during 

 natural ripening on the plant. 



In some cases the crude fiber which 

 forms the basis of the plant structure 

 is reduced in amount or softened. Much 

 of the starch is changed to some form 

 of sugar. The change in flavor is due 

 partly to the proportionate increase of 

 sugar from loss of water and to abso- 

 lute increase from chemical changes. 

 To determine which of two fruits is 

 more economical, not only must the 

 cost per pound be known, but the 

 amount of bodily fuel that makes for 

 energy and protein (muscle-building 

 material) a pound of each would sup- 

 ply. One must also consider what ex- 

 pense is required to preiiare eacli for 

 the table, (irapes commonly cost less 

 a pound than raisins, but a given sum 

 spent for grapes will buy a smaller 

 amount of nutritive material, since the 

 proportion of water is much higher 

 than in raisins. On the other hand, 

 Iow'-]3riced fresh fruit is sometimes as 

 economical as a somewhat cheaper 

 dried fruit, since the latter would re- 

 quire sugar and fuel to make it ready 

 for the table. Attention should also be 

 directed to the extent of inedible ma- 

 terial. — Oflice of Information, I'nited 

 States Department of Agriculture. 



To Preserve Sweet Cider 

 During the cider-making season many 

 requests are received for a convenient, 

 eflicient and yet inexpensive method for 

 preserving sweet cider. Mustard and 

 horseradish have been employed to this 

 end for years, with varying degrees of 

 success, but there is nothing which 

 commends itself more highly for this 

 particular purpose than calcium sul- 

 phite. This must not be confused with 

 calcium sulphate or gypsum. The cider 

 can be preserved either in a fresh, sweet 

 condition, just as it comes from the 

 press, or alter it has undergone a de- 

 sired amount of alcoholic fermentation. 

 For each gallon of cider dissolve one- 

 eighth to one-quarter ounce of calcium 

 sulphite or sulphite of lime in one ciuart 

 of the cider to be preserved; add this 

 solution to three quarts of cider, mak- 

 ing one gallon in all, and mix thor- 

 oughly in the jug or cask. Allow it to 

 stand for several days, when it will be 

 ready to bottle if it is so desired. The 

 calcium sulphite can be obtained from 

 the local drug store for about sixty 

 cents per pound or five cents the ounce. 

 Often a little cinnamon, wintergreen or 

 sassafras is added to the bottled cider 

 to give it a spicy flavor, which is more 

 pleasing to some tastes. A pinch of 

 baking soda added at the moment of 

 inserting the stopper helps to neutralize 

 the acid and render the beverage effer- 

 vescent when it is unstopped. If this is 

 done it will be necessary to tie in the 

 corks.— Walter G. Sackett, Bacteriolog- 

 ist, Colorado Experiment Station, Fort 

 Collins, Colorado. 



Some Reasons Why Fruits and Vegeta- 

 bles Spoil 

 All about us in ground, water and 

 air are numberless little plants called 

 moulds, yeasts and bacteria. Most of 

 them are only visible by aid of a micro- 

 scope. Some of these little plants do 

 well in one kind of soil or atmosphere, 

 while others re(|uire environment of an 

 entirely different nature. The souring 

 of milk, the working of canned fruits, 

 the decay of canned vegetables and 

 meats, the change of cider into vinegar, 

 etc., are all due to the presence of cer- 

 tain of these plants. The fact that they 

 are too small to be seen as they pass 

 through the air explains why so many 

 peoiile believe the air itself causes the 

 working of canned goods. It has been 

 found, however, that it is possible to 

 keep canned goods without sealing in 

 the usual manner by simply filtering 

 all the air that reaches them. For ex- 

 ample, take a can of peas, seal it with 

 a plug of cotton instead of the usual lid, 

 then heat it until all the germs are 

 killed, and the vegetables will keep 

 without spoiling because, while the air 

 can pass in and out of the jar, the plants 

 causing the damage are strained out. 

 Experiments of this kind have proved 

 in different laboratories that it is the 

 inhabitants of the air and not the air 

 itself which causes decay. — Miss Grace 

 Smiley, Colorado Agricultural College. 



