Herbert J. Webber relates in the "Yearbook of the Department of
Agriculture" for 1905 that when the department's pineapple-breeding
experiments were started, the question of what varieties to cultivate
gave considerable trouble. Many growers insisted that the red Spanish
was by far the best variety, because of its adaptability to open field
culture, freedom from disease, and _good shipping qualities_. Others
contended that "as varieties existed that were of _far better quality
and flavor_, the market should be educated to demand these better
so-called fancy fruits."
The words I have italicized indicate a difficulty which confronts us--a
problem of vast and national importance, the chief impediment to our
getting the best varieties of fruits, imported as well as domestic,
and of vegetables, too, into our markets. While some dealers are
sufficiently astute to realize that sales are multiplied tenfold if
the best fruits and vegetables are offered, the ruling majority are so
pennywise as to think only of the shipping and keeping qualities. It
is not too much to say that these short-sighted dealers have entered
into a conspiracy to suppress the best varieties because their greater
delicacy and juiciness make them more perishable.
The story of the pineapple illustrates this point. In the Far South,
where this luscious fruit grows, its fragrance at the time of ripening
pervades the whole neighborhood. In our markets the pineapple's perfume
is so faint that you have to flatten your nose against it before you
get any at all. The reason is that these "pines" not only are usually
of an inferior sort, but that they are picked and shipped before they
are ripe.
Bananas picked green ripen gradually and become sweet. Not so
pineapples. What happens when they are picked unripe is told in a
Bulletin of the Hawaii Agricultural Experiment station (1910) kindly
forwarded to me by one of the officials after I wrote an article on the
subject for the New York "Nation":
A study of the ripening of pineapples has disclosed the fact
that the sugar content of the fruit is derived exclusively
from the leaves of the plant and does not increase after
the fruit has been removed from the plant. If pineapples
are picked green and allowed to ripen the sugar content at
complete ripeness is the same as it was when the fruit was
removed from the plants. An analysis of the fruit shows that
they contain no substance which can be changed into sugar
during the ripening process. Fruits picked too green and
allowed to ripen, therefore, _lack greatly in sugar content
and in flavor_. The sugar content of green fruits, or fruits
ripened after being picked too green, is about 2 or 3 per
cent., while that of fruits ripened on the plant ranges from 9
to 15 per cent.
The words in italics give the gist of the matter. "Pines" picked and
shipped unripe never get their full Flavor, and its unique Flavor is
the one thing that makes a pineapple desirable, for its nutritive value
is slight, and sweets and acids can be more conveniently and cheaply
obtained in other ways.
Here is a description of the pineapple at home: "The most delicious
fruit to be found in Brazil is the pineapple. Northerners who eat this
fruit weeks after it has been picked in its green state have only
a faint idea of its sweetness, lusciousness and delicious flavor.
Here the pineapple is picked when the tropical sun has perfected its
chemical work, and the fruit is ready to melt in the mouth. It would
be an affront to nature to sprinkle sugar upon it when sliced. It is
mellow, over-running with juice, and of incomparable flavor."
Luther Burbank has tried to cultivate a "pineapple Flavor" in other
fruits, and when John Burroughs found it in his new "Patagonia"
strawberry, he was much pleased. It is, indeed, such an exquisite
fragrance that one would imagine the importers and dealers would think
of it, above all things, as a bait to allure purchasers. But no; most
of these gentlemen attach, as we have seen, chief importance to
keeping and shipping qualities.
The consequence of this pennywise policy is that about one-tenth as
many pineapples are sold in our markets as would be if the Commercial
Value of Flavor were fully recognized.
The canners, it is instructive to note, have benefited by the mistake
of their competitors. They wait till the fruit is ripe and flavorsome
before they tin it, and that is the reason why the luscious Hawaiian
canned pineapple suddenly sprang into such great favor. In connection
with this fact it is interesting to read Dr. Wiley's testimony that
"canned fruits properly preserved retain their natural aroma and flavor
better than any other form of canned food."
The rapidity with which the public discovered the excellence of this
Hawaiian product indicates that fresh pineapples also will gain
enormously in favor if the dealers will only supply the "fancy" kinds
in abundance and at reasonable prices.
What the enlightened public wants is not only Flavor, but variety in
Flavor. Pomologist William A. Taylor of the United States Bureau of
Plant Industry has penned a maxim which dealers cannot ponder too much.
"Attractive diversity in appearance and quality stimulates a demand
for fruit among consumers." Yet, as another Government expert attests,
"there has for many years been a strong tendency in the American fruit
trade to urge fruit-growers to reduce the number of varieties in their
commercial plantations." The results we see in our markets. Of the
dozens of choice sorts that are described in the catalogues of nursery
and seedsmen only a fraction are offered to consumers.