THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 



Let US look at another phase of this question of varieties. The 

 objection is being urged that there are too many varieties of fruits. 

 Nurserymen want to cut clown the number of sorts they grow. 

 Commercial fruit growers prefer to grow few rather than many 

 sorts. Fruit dealers are urging fruit growers to plant fewer sorts 

 because, they say, it is much easier to have a standard pack and to 

 give quotations to wholesale and retail dealers if there are few 

 varieties. This is a short-sighted policy. Fewer varieties mean 

 in the long run a great curtailment of the pleasures in having a 

 fruit garden. Planters of home gardens must not permit the 

 so-called "standardization of varieties," whereby they are cut off 

 from getting any but commercial sorts from nurserymen. 



People who grow fruits for pleasure are already limited too 

 much in the choice of sorts offered by nurserymen. Many good 

 old kinds cannot be bought. There are not now enough sorts 

 of any of our fruits to give the different colors, tastes, seasons, 

 and to serve the several purposes for which fruits are grown. 

 Nurserymen offer a most parsimonious assortment in comparison 

 with what might be offered. 



It is worth noting that in most food products variety is an asset. 

 The candy maker, the ice cream maker, the pastry maker, all cater 

 to variety. Of such staples as bread, cereals, and cheeses, the 

 kinds are being increased rather than diminished. With all of 

 these products variety is difficult to obtain, while with fruits it is 

 easy. Yet the tendency among fruit growers is to cut down vari- 

 ety as if it were a liability instead of an asset. 



Take the case of the apple. There are perhaps two hundred or 

 more varieties of apples grown in the United States. Perhaps 

 a thousand more sorts have been grown in the last century, or could 

 be obtained from Europe. Yet only a score or thereabouts of 

 the splendid array of delicious apples can be had from the average 

 nurserymen. This means, of course, a curtailment in the pleasures 

 of a home garden. No one will deny that many of the sorts now 

 offered are not worth growing, but on the other hand, there are 

 many choicely good apples that, with modern methods of spraying 

 and orchard management, could be profitably grown. It is too bad 

 that only red apples for the most part are now being planted. 



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