57 



is crisper. juicier and richer, a fact attested to by all who have had 

 to do with experiments in ^\'hich the fruit is grown under the two 

 methods of culture. In this case the low colored fruit is normal 

 while the high color is the hectic flush of disease. So in every in- 

 stance, a seeming parallelism between color and quality may be 

 explained. Individual instances seem to show correlations, but a 

 general survey of all instances shows that there are no correlations 

 either between kinds of color or intensity of color and quality. 



I quite realize that it is necessar}- for a variety to have a A-ogue,, 

 because of some character or characters to create or satisfy a spec- 

 ial demand, in order to "catch" the market. But need its reputation 

 necessarily be made by its size or its color? If so, our western 

 friends in all probabilities have us beaten. But when it comes to 

 making a reputation for high quality, for choicely good apples, high- 

 ly flavored pears, unimpeachably good peaches, and honeyed plums, 

 the products of the middle and far A\'est are only tolerable in com- 

 parison. A\'hy do not we in the East make the most of the condi- 

 tions that have been given us and grow fruits of quality and stake 

 our reputation on it? Let the westerners continue to grow their 

 huge, highly colored fruits. In time the public will distinguish be- 

 tween "quality fruits'' and those recommended by their bulk and 

 the color of their hide. 



AA'e come now to a discussion of quality, a word rolled under 

 the tongue by fruit-growers and consumers alike but which like 

 "good cheer" in the fable is fl.sh to one, flesh to another, and fowl 

 to a third. \\t need, therefore, to define the term. In brief, qual- 

 ity is that combination of flavor, aroma, juiciness and tender flesh 

 which make fruits fit for the palate. But this is not all. The thing 

 that gives charm to the attractions of the world, whether books or 

 pictures, or music, or people, or fruits, is that subtle undefinable 

 thing called personality. A Northern Spy, a Mcintosh, a Seckel 

 pear, a Green Gage plum, an lona grape, for examples, all have 

 distinct and charming personalities which contribute no small part 

 to the high quality of these fruits. But many fruits have it not 

 and the sorts named lose it when grown under some conditions. 

 This personality may be quite aside from any tangible qualitv. It 

 is akin to the charm of a woman of which Maggie savs. in the cur- 

 rent play, IVhat Every JJ^oiiian Kjiok's, "If a woman has it she 

 needs nothing else in the world, and if she has it not, nothing else 

 in the world is of any use." A high quality fruit should have some 

 such personality. Is charm marketable? It is in marriage mar- 

 kets. It ought always to l^e in fruit markets. 



High quality does not have the commercial value that it should 

 but it is coming to be worth more and more. There are two kinds 

 of taste, natural taste and acquired taste. Only savages have a 

 natural taste : to them crude, unrefined tasteless foods answer all 

 purposes. But civilized man has an acquired taste and with each 

 succeeding stage of civilization it becomes more delicate and more 

 refined. Once they but know where it can be obtained, people will 

 buy and pay for fruits of high quality — fruits with delicate and re- 

 fined flavors and aromas and juicy tender flesh. Such fruits should 

 be the food of the great mass of the American people while coarse, 



