378 



H K T 1 C U L T U K E 



April 19, 1919 



BETTER FRUIT FOR NEW ENG- 

 LAND. 



(Lecture by M. G. Kains before the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society.) 



Much praise was given to the "mere 

 amateurs" among fruit growers, with- 

 out in the least detracting from what 

 the scientists, agricultural colleges and 

 state and national departments of agri- 

 culture have done for the improve- 

 ment of fruits, by Professor M. G. 

 Kains of Columbia University, New 

 York city, who last Saturday afternoon 

 addressed the Massachusetts Horticul- 

 tural Society. He spoke of his boy- 

 hood days on the farm, when tooth- 

 some apples and other fruits were 

 raised for the use of the family and 

 guests, and when the standards were 

 kept high as a matter of pride and 

 satisfaction. 



"While the past five, and especially 

 the past three decades," said Professor 

 Kains, "have seen more remarkable 

 improvements in horticultural prac- 

 tices than did the previous five — for in- 

 stance, the development of modern 

 tillage, fertilizing, cover cropping, 

 spraying and rational pruning — which 

 have made the fruit-growing Industries 

 of today highly specialized arts, per- 

 haps the most significant development 

 of all is the increased and steadily in- 

 creasing public demand for fruit varie- 

 ties of high quality. For this growth, 

 particularly so far as apples are con- 

 cerned, Oregon, Washington, Colorado 

 and other western orchardists doubt- 

 less deserve considerable credit, first 

 because they boldly nailed their colors 

 to high standards of excellence, both 

 as to variety and to character of speci- 

 men, and second because they deliber- 

 ately set about the education of the 

 public with respect to such standards. 



"One of the most pleasing customs of 

 the old days, one that deserves to be 

 revived today, owed its charm to the 

 choice fruit grown in the family plan- 

 tation. When visitors dropped in for 

 the afternoon or the evening the prop- 

 er thing was to have the company en- 

 joy some home-grown fruit before de- 

 parting. This was not served in the 

 modern sense now too frequently em- 

 ployed to indicate that the social ses- 

 sion is at an end, but in the whole- 

 souled spirit of hospitality in the ex- 

 tending of which both host and hostess 

 could take a keener pleasure in serv- 

 ing a homegrown product and feeling 

 that the favorable comments upon it 

 were more genuine than is possible 

 when purchased provender is provided. 



"What would have happened if the 

 Ben Davis apple, Kieffer pear, Elberta 

 peach or Lombard plum had been used 

 instead of the choice varieties? Might 



not the guests have felt that as direct 

 a hint was being given them as when 

 in baronial times the cold shoulder of 

 mutton was trotted out to apprise the 

 guests that they had outlasted their 

 welcome? But who would have planted 

 or grown such inferior fruits with bore- 

 bouncing intent? Would it not have 

 wasted valuable land and time and 

 also indicated a lack of resourceful- 

 ness on the part of host and hostess? 



Discouraging a Good Customer. 



"Though the Ben Davis apple and 

 Elberta peach must bear much respon- 

 sibility for curbing public appetites 

 for apples and peaches respectively, it 

 seems safe to declare that no one fruit 

 variety has played such havoc with 

 public taste as has the Kieffer pear. 

 The train-loads of this whited sepul- 

 chre of a fruit, that for the past twenty 

 years or more have flooded the large 

 city markets, have led the public to 

 believe that pears in general are in- 

 ferior fruits, fit only for canning, if 

 that. Even the Bartlett has had its 

 skirts soiled by the commercialism 

 that prompts California growers to 

 gather it too green and ship it to east- 

 ern markets, where its consequently 

 flat flavor belies its fine color and thus 

 begins what the Kieffer finishes, the 

 suppression of the public appetite. 

 Thus the rising generation has had 

 little chance to learn the truth that 

 the pear is one of our nicest, most 

 lucious and delectable of fruits. 



"It seems necessary to criticize ad- 

 versely much of the present-day litera- 

 ture and many of the specialists of the 

 agricultural colleges and experiment 

 stations. The majority of the writings 

 on fruit-growing within the past 

 twenty-five or thirty years have 

 too strongly emphasized commercial 

 phases and given too little heed to 

 the stigmatized 'amateur' features of 

 fruit-growing as If these were of an 

 inferior instead of a potentially 

 superior order. Amateurs are fre- 

 quently connoisseurs. The writers 

 seem to have the dollar so close to 

 their eyes that they see nothing else. 

 As a matter of fact, the great authori- 

 ties on fruit growing — Coxe, Prince, 

 Bary, Thomas, Warder, Brinkle, Lyon, 

 the two Downings and the galaxy of 

 New Englanders — Kenrick, Wilder, 

 Hovey and the Mannings, to name 

 only a few — were all amateurs, yet 

 what does not the American public 

 and especially the fruit grower owe 

 them? They made fruit-growing popu- 

 lar, not only in their day but for ours. 



"Let me hasten to say my audience 

 is mistaken if it has concluded from 

 any of my remarks that I advocate a 

 return to the hit or miss methods of 

 former days. I most certainly do not. 



I am a firm advocate of every method 

 that makes for better fruit and more 

 of it. What I have striven to empha- 

 size Is the importance of replacing the 

 now largely decrepit fruit plantations 

 with new ones of the choicest varie- 

 ties to be handled according to the 

 best modern methods." 



We should like to publish in full 

 this Instructive lecture but our space 

 Is limited. 



ST. LOUIS. 



Florists will be invited to the Grow- 

 ers' dance to be held at W. R. Rowe's 

 new place the latter part of the month. 



The Club meeting at Wendler Whole- 

 sale Floral Co. warehouse was held 

 Thursday, 10th, pressure of business 

 kept President Hummert and other 

 officers and members from the Club. 

 Fred Ammann of Edwardsville, 111., 

 displayed pictures of publicity adver- 

 tisements 



Boston — Clarence L. Linz, Washing- 

 ton, D. C. 



Rochester — G. G. Sleeker, Chicago; 

 J. J. Karins. rep. Dreers, Phila. 



Philadelphia — Wm. E. Seidewitz, 

 Baltimore, Md.; M. Koster, Boskoop, 

 Holland; Wm. Turpin, Norfolk, Va.; 

 Fred A. Carey, Kennett Sq., Penna. 



Chicago— H. B. Dorner. Prof, of 

 Horticulture University of Illinois, 

 Urbana, 111.; Miss Hayden, with Sam- 

 uel Murray, Kansas City, Mo.; Henry 

 Kusick, Kansas City, Mo. 





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