14 FACTORS INFLUENCING QUALITY 



Some of the warm season crops, while requiring considerable 

 moisture early in the season to promote a strong vegetative growth, 

 develop a product of the highest flavor and most desirable texture 

 if the soil is comparatively dry at the time the crop matures. 



High quality in many vegetables is associated with rapidity 

 of growth. This is especially true of the cool season, short season 

 crops of which a vegetative part is the desired product. While 

 a congenial temperature and adequate supply of moisture are 

 favorable to a rapid growth, such growth is dependent primarily 

 upon an abundant supply of available plant food. Plants used 

 for their fruit and seed parts must also make a strong vegetative 

 growth if they are to bear a full crop of high quality. Therefore 

 they, too, must be well fed. 



Tillage is the principal means of retaining moisture. It also 

 assists in rendering conditions favorable for the plant to make 

 use of the food which is suppUed. A crop of high quality can be 

 grown with thorough tillage better than without it, and tillage 

 may therefore be considered as another factor influencing quality. 



In certain crops the quality of the produce may be impaired 

 by the attacks of insect enemies or fungous diseases. For example, 

 the quality of muskmelons is almost sure to be ruined if the vines 

 are seriously attacked by lice or rust. In other crops, the quantity 

 and appearance of the product may be more greatly influenced 

 than the quality, by reason of an attack of insects or disease, but 

 in case of an attack sufficiently severe to seriously interfere with 

 the proper nutrition of the plant, there will usually be also a 

 diminution in quality. Protection of a crop from its enemies 

 promotes the development of high quality in the product. 



The Variety Factor. — While the conditions under which a 

 crop is grown are of prime importance in determining its quality, 

 there is another factor which, if disregarded, may thwart all 

 efforts at the production of vegetables of high quality. This is 

 the variety factor. Varieties differ as much in quality as they do 

 in size, shape, season or color. The varieties of vegetables which 

 are usually offered on the market, and of which seeds can be 

 purchased at the grocery store, are, for the most part, the so-called 

 '' standard '^ varieties. Most of them have been '^ standards" for 

 years, and are used as market sorts by reason of their market 

 qualities rather than their table qualities. The characteristics of 

 a variety most often selected for market are productiveness, 

 earhness, good appearance, and good shipping qualities, rather 



