1922.] Lessons of the Imperial Fruit Show, 1921. 



661 



that Kent is the oldest fruit-growing county and that by virtue 

 of longer experience the Kentish growers have had greater 

 opportunities of becoming more skilled. The venue of the 

 Show (Crystal Palace) enabled much of the produce in the 

 Kent section to l)e delivered direct in motor lorries over com- 

 paratively shoit distances; whereas in the other sections the 

 boxes of fruit were sent long distances by rail. Too much 

 importance, however, can be attributed to this, as the marks 

 awarded for the general condition of fruit sent from the Eastern 

 Counties and West Midlands were only slightly below those 

 obtained by Kent. The figures appear to indicate that the 

 Kent apples secured a considerable lead because of the care 

 taken in selecting the best size, or, at any rate, a size which, 

 in the opinion of the Judges, was the best commercial size. 

 In colour, finish and skin quality the Eastern Counties fruit 

 would seem to be behind that of the West Midland and the 

 Kent sections, and this may be attributable to several factors. 

 The apple of the West has long held a reputation for colour 

 and quality, though this is counterbalanced to some extent by 

 the effects of diseases and pests. The Kent climate is not so 

 favourable to the production of a high colour, but the Kentish 

 growers generally adopt hygienic methods for keeping pests and 

 diseases, as far as practicable, under control. The climate of 

 the Eastern Counties is by no means conducive to high colour 

 or finish in apples, nor do the growers energetically deal with 

 diseases and pests, and so their apples have fallen into the 

 third place. Even in a few exhibits where fruit from the 

 lighter soils of the Eastern Counties possessed high colour, 

 marks were lost considerably on skin quality. 



In marks obtained for " condition," under which is included 

 firmness, soundness, freedom from blemish and flavour 

 quality, Kent again holds a slight lead over the other two 

 sections. This, however, may be misleading to those who 

 examined the various classes towards the end of the Show 

 when it was seen that the soundness and firmness of many 

 leading exhibits had very much deteriorated. It was clearly 

 indicated here that climatic conditions play a very important 

 part in the soundness and general keeping qualities of apples, 

 especially in such an abnormal season as was experienced in 

 1921. Their blemishes usually account for a good deal of 

 rotting among closely packed apples, but in this case the rapid 

 rotting of clean fruit on the third and fourth day of the Show 

 W7as much in evidence. This applies particularly to the large 



