North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Bruce Hansen" <brucehansen@acd.net>]

Don:

The last paragraph is fantastic. I got a chuckle out of it. Of course, in
the political world dumb is essential. But then again, politicians usually
can't grow apples.

Bruce

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-admin@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-admin@lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of Don Yellman
Sent: Tuesday, October 29, 2002 3:10 PM
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [NAFEX] Commercial/Home Apple Varieties


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

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