THE COMPOSITION OF FRUITS 9 



8. The effect of location on quality. — While it is recog- 

 nized that there is a niarketl difference in quality of fruit 

 depending on where it is grown, there is not much data 

 showing the chemical analysis of such fruits. Colby ^ has 

 shown the effect of location on quality of fruit, particularly 

 for the conditions which obtain in California. 



Apples which were grown at a high elevation averaged 

 higher in both sugars and acids, which makes the best 

 combination for a dessert apple. Those raised at elevations 

 (4000 to 5000 feet) analyzed as high as 15 per cent sugar and 

 .55 per cent acid in the juice, while those from lower levels 

 (50-150 feet) analyzed about 2 to 4 per cent lower in sugars 

 and as low as .16 and .17 per cent acid (in terms of sulfuric 

 acid, SO3). 



Eastern apples, according to data cited, analyzed from 

 10.42 per cent sugar (Baldwin) to 11.36 per cent (Rhode 

 Island Greening) in the juice. European grown fruits 

 showed a still lower sugar-content, averaging 7.22 per cent. 



9. Composition of fruits grown on irrigated and non- 

 irrigated land. — The statement has not infrequently been 

 made that fruits grown under irrigation are "flat" or insipid 

 in flavor and are less able to withstand shipment and rough 

 handling than fruit raised on non-irrigated land. To deter- 

 mine whether there is any essential difference in composition, 

 chemical analyses were made by Jones and Colver ^ of various 

 fruits so grown. The results indicate that "From a general 

 survey of analytical results, it may fairly be said that fruits 

 in general manifest a well-defined tendency to elaborate 

 greater percentages of total solids or dry matter, conse- 

 quently of sugar, acid, and crude protein, when grown in 

 non-irrigated sections. With comparatively few exceptions, 



1 Colby, G. E. Rept. Calif. Agr. Exp. Sta. 1897-98. p. 14.3. 

 ^ Jones, J. S., and C. W. Colver. The composition of irrigated and 

 non-irrigated fruits. Idaho Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 75. 1912, 



