60 



ANNUAL REPORT 1 93 9 AND 1920 



One of the first points to be considered is what constitutes maturity. The 

 question may be considered from two points of view: firstly, as to commercial ma- 

 turity; secondly, as to natural maturity. A definition of the first class may pos- 

 sibly be arrived at, but I know of no one who will hazard a definition to cover 

 maturity as conceived by nature. At first thought, we might suggest that when 

 the seed within the fruit has advanced sufficiently to sprout and reproduce the 

 plant, that the fruit is naturally mature; but it is notoriously the fact that seeds 

 from green fruit will sprout and reproduce. On the other hand, if we await the 

 time when the seed has sprouted within the fruit, we have usually waited until the 

 latter has passed the period where its best eating quality is found. Natural and 

 commercial maturity cannot be correlated, for manifestly many things are sold 

 and eaten before they are naturally mature. Commercial maturity may be said 

 to be that stage of growth at which the fruit may be harvested with equal satis- 

 faction to the producer and the consumer alike. The producer ever seeks to put 

 his product on the market physically sound, while the wise consumer ever seeks 

 fruit that has developed its full size and flavor. There is no definite natural point 

 at which one can say a fruit is commercially mature. Some persons of peculiar 

 tastes will enjoy fruit which is much too acid for the average consumer, and some 

 will not care for it until it is so far advanced as to seem insipid to the great ma- 

 jority. After giving the m.atter considerable thought for several years, I have 

 come to the conclusion that the only reasonable way to handle the question is to 

 set a purely arbitrary standard which should be as low as good marketing practice 

 will permit. This, it is true, will not place before the public a product of which 

 the great majority of growers should feel proud. The standard must be high 

 enough so that the fruit on reaching the market will not turn the majority of the 

 buying public against the crop as a whole. Any standard which will not ac- 

 complish that is worse than useless. This, of course, is not satisfactory to the 

 market hog, who would dispose of his crop at the greatest profit to himself alone 

 and let the other growers look out for themselves. Nor is it entirely satisfactory 

 to the idealist who would make it much more severe. The former, however, is a 

 public nuisance which should be abated, and the latter has his remedy in his pri- 

 vate brands where he can regulate the quality of his output to his own satisfaction. 



Some fruits undoubtedly develop the best eating quality when lef^ to mature 

 upon the plant, but this is not the case with all fruit. Certain varieties of apples 

 and pears are always harvested before maturity in order to develop their maxi- 

 mum flavor, and in som.e cases several weeks of storage are necessary. Bananas, 

 for instance, are harvested green in the tropics, even when they are intended for 

 local use, and are said to develop a better flavor thus than when left on the plant 

 to mature. It must be confessed, however, that the depredations of birds and in- 

 sects upon the maturing fruit have had no little part in bringing about this custom. 



The above mentioned fruits increase their sugar content after removal from 

 the tree, as they have stored within the fruit material from which sugar is produced. 

 Other types of fruits, however, do not materially increase their sugar content after 

 harvesting. In our experimental work with citrus fruits we have failed to find 

 evidence of any increase in sugar content after the fruit is removed from the 

 tree. There is, however, a decided decrease in the acid content, which is some- 

 times mistaken for an increase in sweetness. 



It is apparent then, that some fruits m.av be harvested some little time before 

 they are ready to eat, while others should be left upon the plant as long as 

 possible. 



