No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 385 



than the 1st of July, though some of our best results have come 

 from applications as late as July 8th. Most any time during the 

 period indicated will probably get the most out of the nitrate appli- 

 cations. 



With the other less soluble and slower acting materials, the time 

 of application is much less important. We know some careful 

 observers, who even advocate the application of phosphate and pot- 

 ash in the fall on peaches, and claim that they get the best results in 

 that way. Our own feeling on this is that the time of application 

 for the mineral fertilizers is of relatively little importance. In any 

 event, they are rather quickly fixed in the soil and they do not leach 

 readily. Hence, we apply them along with the nitrogen, ]ei:tiug rhe 

 lime of application for the latter, which we do consider important, 

 govern for all. 



SIZE, COLOE AND QUALITY IN FKUITS 



DR. U. P. HEDRICK, Horticulturist, New York Agricultural Experimental 



Station, Geneva, N. Y. 



It is a genuine pleasure for me to meet the Adams County Fruit 

 (Irowers' Association to-day. My acquaintances and colleagues in 

 New York, who have been here, have brought home glowing tales of 

 the wondeiful fruit region you have in Adams county, of the hos- 

 pitality of the people, and the good meetings you have in this Asso- 

 ciation, and have had here for years. It is all the more pleasure 

 because I feel that the two states, the one bounding the other, ought 

 to be in closer contact in matters pertaining to fruit growing than 

 they are. My subject to-day is ''Size, Color and Quality in Fruits." 

 I want to discuss the relative values of these three principal char- 

 acters in fruit in particular, in regard to their great importance 

 to this State. 



You are all aAvare that there is a discrimination against some of 

 the fruits of the East. Side by side fruit from the Far West is 

 preferred in the markets of the country. None of us like the sound 

 of this but it is well to face positive facts no matter how disagree- 

 able. This discrimination is unjust for when the same market 

 grades of most eastern and western fruits are compared, connois- 

 seuis find the eastern the better. Unfortunately, public opinion 

 does not always march with the opinion of the connoisseurs. The 

 difference between professional and popular judgment in this mat- 

 ter comes about because of the general misconception of the relative 

 value of size, color and quality in fruit. It is to a consideration of 

 the values of these attributes that I ask your attention for a short 

 time with the hope of suggesting something to stem the present com- 

 parative unpopularity of the products of eastern orchards. 



Appreciation of fruits comes through three of the five senses — 

 taste, sight and smell, though the last is of little importance, being 



25—6—1911 



