MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS, 
Prepared for the Philadelphia Meeting- and ordered printed by the Execu- 
tive Committee. 
QUALITY AS A FACTOR IN APPLE CULTURE. 
BY CHAS. W. GARFIELD, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. 
| 
A broad definition of quality covers a very wide field, and as applied to 
the apple, deals with all of the senses. Beauty of form, delicacy of color, 
have to do wfitli the sense of sight; smoothness of surface and firmness of 
texture deal with the sense of feeling; aromatic qualities appeal to the senses 
of taste and of smell; and the crispness of fruit when used for dessert purposes 
has, at least indirectly, an appeal to the sense of hearing. So that in the dis- 
cussion of the subject I have chosen, after eliminating the suggestions I have 
just made, there is comparatively little left of the important things connected 
with the culture of the apple. To be sure, there is climate, and soil, and habit 
of the tree; but all of the attributes of the fruit itself can be garnered under 
a broad definition of quality. My purpose, however, in the few moments’ 
discussion given to this topic, is to take a narrower and more technical defini- 
tion of quality as applied to fruits, and this definition has to do with the at- 
tributes that appeal to the sense of taste. 
Really, is not the final test of the value of an apple in its appeal to the 
sense of taste? Applying well known words from the 13th chapter of Cor- 
inthians: Quality never failetb. But whether there be color, it shall fail, 
w T het,her there be beauty of form, it shall fail; whether there be delicacy of 
bloom, it shall vanish away. So that in the discussion of the question of 
apple culture for the amateur or for the professional, the crucial test is in the 
quality of the fruit. Our views as to what we shall plant may be modified 
somewhat by what we are to do with the fruit, and the question of near 
market or distant market will mould our ideas with reference to the style 
of fruit to be grown. Thus, firmness of texture may be considered of great 
importance. But, while admitting this, we do not allow that quality is any 
the less the strongest factor. If we can get high quality with these other 
attributes, we want it. The consumer demands it, and our judgment as to 
what to plant is modified to suit the situation. I have seen hundreds of bar- 
rels of American apples opened on the Covent Garden market in London, and 
have noted with great pleasure that King, Swaar, Newtown, Pippin, 
Northern Spy and Red Canada brought far better prices than Baldwin and 
