North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Betty Mayfield" <bmayfield@columbia-center.org>]

Tom,

This was my immediate reaction also. But I have noticed that it is fairly
typical of descriptions today--lots of attention paid to color, length of
picking season, and shipping qualities, but very little or none to flavor.
By contrast, Dr. Frederick V. Coville, botanist with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, writing in 1937 in the Yearbook of Agriculture, told of his
early years selecting the best blueberry hybrids, as follows: 

     "To avoid the introduction of new blueberry varieties that are chiefly
valuable to the grower only, because of their productiveness and their
shipping quality, it has been the aim of the Department, in its blueberry
breeding, to consider the consumer also, and especially to develop for his
benefit, varieties of high flavor. As evidence of the faithfulness of this
endeavor it may be recorded that more than 300 seedling blueberry plants
that bore berries over three-quarters of an inch (19.1 mm) in diameter
have  been  destroyed  because  they  did  not  come  up to the standards
we have set for flavor."

Betty Mayfield



At 12:12 PM 2/20/2001 -0500, Tom  wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I noticed this right away in reading the description on the new longer
>season raspberry: 
>
>"Coho gives high yields of bright-red, very firm berries.  It is named
>after a red-skinned salmon commonly found in the Pacific Northwest. It is the
>second red raspberry released by ARS berry breeders for the summer 
>fresh-fruit market. The first, Lewis, was released in 1999. Coho was
>developed by crossing Lewis with other breeding lines."
>
>What I noticed was something that I was just discussing privately via
>email with another NAFEX'r...  This new variety description talks about
>yield, color and texture, and not a single word about TASTE.  Is taste
>primary or secondary to these qualities?  Guess that depends if you are a
>commercial grower or not.
>
>I realize that like it not, this raspberry will end up in the grocery
>store, and end up "dumbing down" a whole new generation as to what a good
>raspberry is supposed to taste like, but I want to make the comment
>anyway.
>
>Thank goodness for NAFEX and all the older variety fruit collecitons, of
>less marketable, better tasting fruit out there, because of their
>good work.
>
>All the best.  I will step  off my soap box now.
>
>Regards,
>Tom
>
>
>--
>Thomas Olenio
>Ontario, Hardiness Zone 6a
>
>


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