North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Don Yellman <dyellman@earthlink.net>]

Chris, Cottontail, et.al.:

1.  Back in the days when I subscribed to a commercial fruit growing 
magazine, I was struck by the emphasis on apple appearance, particularly 
color.  Color is apparently the single most important consideration for 
mass marketing of apples.  Other important factors are shipping and 
storage qualities (in CA storage), uniformity of size at ripening, 
crispness, and soluble solids.  Flavor comes in there somewhere, but it 
is not necessarily related to a very high level of soluble solids. 
Granny Smith was the first apple to crack through the sweet preference 
of the consumer, and it was a surprise to much of the industry, since it 
has more acidity, and consequently more flavor as most of us would 
define it.  In those days Grannies were coming in from Australia and New 
Zealand, but the U.S. industry quickly picked up on the consumer 
acceptance of this variety.  People even began to appreciate its glowing 
green color.  Gala came along shortly thereafter, also intially 
imported, but efforts to "improve" its color from yellow/pink blush to 
all red have continued ever since.  Of course, efforts to improve to 
color of Red Delicious to the deep, mahogany red we all know and love, 
have been underway for at least 100 years.

2.  For most of us who grow apples such as Ashmead's Kernel and Pomme 
Gris in our backyards, appearance is the least of our concerns.  While 
it is nice to grow some very sweet, late apples like Fuji (which also 
has a fine aroma and flavor when home grown), most of us are quite 
willing to sacrifice some sugar (soluble solids) for a little more 
acidity and flavor.  Nor do we require a specific size range, and can 
grow very large apples like Spigold and Mutsu, or small ones like Pixie 
Crunch, even though these apples would not have mass market appeal 
because of their size, to say nothing of their overall appearance.

3.  The Washington Apple Commission has recently asked the state 
Department of Agriculture to institute new standards for the marketing 
of several apple varieties.  The two qualities that are thought to 
require improvement are soluble solids in Red Delicious (to prevent 
premature picking and marketing) from 10% to 11%, and and improvement in 
"crispness" of Gala and Jonagold.  U.S. growers are under intense 
pressure from imports, particularly from China, and, while the Chinese 
had a bad year in 2002, they know this will not be true every year. 
Prices for Washington apples are up over $2 a box from 2001, and over $4 
a box from 2002, and this may be the first year since 1995 that growers 
have made any real money.  As far as I am concerned, this is very good 
news, and I hope the industry is able to fend off the foreign 
competition and remain viable.  And they are correct that they have to 
have a clear edge on quality to remain competitive in the mass market. 
It is not really clear to me how they will approach the improvement of 
"crispness".  It always seemed to me that the longer an apple hangs on 
the tree, increasing its soluble solids, the more likely it is to become 
mealy in storage.  Whatever the case, these are two of the qualities 
that Washington commercial growers believe are important for their 
competitive survival.

4. The language police have informed me that latinization of Edward 
Fackler's name would yield "Eduardo", vice "Edwardo".  Just a small 
point I know, which does not really detract from the overall amusement 
of fiddling with Ed's name.  I know he is in stiches, just as I am.  The 
real trouble with Ed is that he actually knows what he is talking about, 
which can be very irritating, and he lives in heaven, a place where many 
of us will never go.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA