X.] SIZE VS. QUALITY. 227 



would appear that increase in quality is usually asso- 

 ciated with increase in size, but it must be remem- 

 bered that small fruits are less likely to be propagated 

 extensively than large ones are. It is only when small 

 fruits possess some superlative merits, as in the case 

 of the Early Joe apple and the Seckel and Summer 

 Doyenne pears, that they are worth cultivating in 

 competition with larger fruit. Thus it would be 

 useless to attempt to draw any conclusions from the 

 listed size of poor apples, for poor small apples are 

 not often perpetuated. 



We need not resort to figures to show that in- 

 crease in quality is not a necessary attendant of de- 

 crease in size. Every fruit-grower who stops to rea- 

 son upon the question must recall the fact that 

 seedling apples are usually small and verj' poor in 

 quality. The fallacy of associating size and flavor, 

 as of other supposed parallelisms, arises from the fact 

 that individual instances have been widened into gen- 

 eralizations. We wonder at the smallness of the 

 Russets, the Early Joes, the Delawares, the Seckels 

 and the Doyennes, but we forget the Fall Pippins, 

 the Hubbardstons, the Spys, the Greenings, the Brigh- 

 tons, the Anjous and the Boscs. 



But if it is a fallacy to associate increase of quality 

 and decrease of size, it is perhaps a greater one to 

 associate high quality with low color. A study of 

 the preceding tables shows that red is a very promi- 

 nent character in all the dessert fruits, and wholly 

 green fruits, even among the apples, are compara- 

 tively rare in this country. The question of color is 

 very largely one of climate. The American climate 

 produces high color, while the English climate pro- 



