North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <ginda@concentric.net>]

I am not an expert, but I'll venture a guess.  Why are there dozens of
commercially marketed varieties of sweet corn, and only two of lima
beans?

I think that apples and sweet corn just excite people more than pears
and lima beans.  Also, apples and sweet corn are intrinsically more
variable, and so people are more aware of the potential.  I don't mean
that there are bigger differences between different cultivars, but
bigger differences within samples of a single cultivar.  Apples and corn
get old, starchy, and soft well before they become inedible.  I just ate
some Macouns that have been in my basement more than a month - cool, but
no refrigeration.  The skin is oily, they have totally lost their
"crack" and they are not quite as sweet as they were, but they are still
pleasant, sweet, tart, and refreshing.  In contrast, pears slowly get
softer and sweeter, and then rot.  Maybe more important, apples fresh
from the supermarket vary from fresh and crisp to mealy and flavorless. 
Pears always come crisp, as far as I can tell.

I like pears, but rarely buy a new one "just because it's different".  I
almost always pick up an apple that I haven't seen before, just to try
it.

Ginda Fisher
eastern Mass, where the leaves are all down, but my "fall everbearing
red raspberries" are still coming in.

Doreen Howard wrote:
> 
> After researching heirloom pears for several weeks and interviewing 4
> growers of the same, I have a burning question that you experts may be able
> to answer.  Why are the big 4 commercial pear varieties--Bartlett, Bosc,
> Anjou and Comice-- a couple of centuries old?  One would think that hybrids
> with their improved disease resistance, etc. would have replaced these
> heirloom varieties.  Is it taste?  Is it lack of imagination?  Or what?
> Please venture forth with your opinions.
> Doreen Howard
> In Wisconsin, where it's snowing and snowing.
> 

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