From the opening to the close of the Fair, December first, New York's exhibit of fruit was maintained at a uniformly high standard of excellence. The total number of varieties of fruit exhibited was as follows:
Apples ……… 424 varieties
Cherries ……. 31 "
Currants ……. 4 "
Gooseberries … 1 "
Grapes ……… 150 "
Pears ………. 152 "
Plums ………. 129 "
Quinces …….. 8 "
Peaches …….. 14 "
Strawberries … 1 "
The Empire State far outstripped her sister States as to number of varieties of fruit, displaying twice as many varieties of apples, pears and plums, and more than three times as many varieties of grapes as her nearest competitor, and this be it said, in a display of fruits never before equaled either in size, variety or quality.
RECORD OF ENTRIES
Over 2,000 individual entries of fruit were made during the season, and as all of the fruit was entered twice, once for the general collection of the State and again for the grower, the total number of entries was nearly five thousand. An accurate record was kept of all entries, the following information being carefully tabulated: The name and address of the exhibitor. Date of removal from cold storage. Date placed upon the table. Date of removal from the table. Remarks concerning its condition.
FRUIT of 1904
The new fruit of the fall of 1904, while free from rust and of good color, was somewhat smaller in size than the fruit of 1903; nevertheless it made a grand display, and from the opening to the close of the Fair from 2,000 to 2,500 plates of fruit, including never less than 150 varieties of apples, were admired by the thousands of visitors.
APPLES
The apples placed in cold storage at St. Louis in December of 1903 were found to be in almost perfect condition when opened in April, and, with a few exceptions, continued so throughout the season. Most of the apples were wrapped first in tissue and then in oiled paper and firmly packed in barrels well lined with corrugated paper, with excelsior cushions in each end.
Owing to the fact that so much depends upon the condition of fruit when picked, and the necessity of placing it in cold storage as soon as picked, it was a difficult matter to make a comparative test of the keeping qualities of the different varieties. For instance, of two different collections of Baldwins (one of the best keepers), placed on the tables at the same time, one lot held up in perfect condition for several weeks while the other went down in as many days.