228 GARDENING WITH BRAINS 



Oranges and grapefruit are not at their best 

 before Christmas, and the late Burbank plums 

 are still missing in our stupid markets, so the 

 outstanding fruits in the late autumn on Wash- 

 ington and Vesey Streets are apples and pears. 

 It is gratifying to note that there is a growing 

 tendency to label these two kinds of fruit, 

 especially when they come from the far West. 

 Retailers, of course, always know what they 

 get from the wholesalers, but until lately they 

 were not particularly anxious to pass on their 

 information to the consumer. Too often the 

 consumer's gastronomic education has been 

 neglected; he looks upon the apple when it is 

 red and thinks one is as good as another; but it 

 isn't, any more than a copper coin is as good as 

 a dime, or a silver dollar as good as a twenty- 

 dollar gold piece. 



There are quite as big differences between 

 different kinds of apples and pears, and the 

 public is gradually learning that fact, which 

 explains why Gravenstein, Red Astrachan, Mc- 

 Intosh, Stayman Winesap, Jonathan, Spitzen- 

 berg, and other first-class apples, and Bartlett, 

 Winternellis, Bosc, Anjou, and other good pears 

 are now being labeled at some fruit stands 

 unfortunately, not always correctly. Be on 

 your guard and make your fruiterer understand 

 distinctly that you want no Ben Davis apples, 

 Elberta peaches, or (genuine) Concord grapes. 

 If he has any good black grapes, let him 



