using System;

public class Program

{

    public class Fruit { public string Name { get; set; } }

    public class Apple : Fruit { }

​

    public static void ReadFruitData(string Name, ref Fruit newFruit)

    {

        // All I did was removing the newFruit = new Fruit(); line from here.

        newFruit.Name = Name;

    }

​

    public static void ReadAppleData(string Name, ref Apple newApple)

    {

        Fruit f = (Fruit)newApple;

​

        ReadFruitData(Name, ref f);

    }

    public static void Main(string[] args)

    {

        Apple a = new Apple();

        ReadAppleData("ab", ref a);

        Console.WriteLine("The name of the apple is '{0}'.", a.Name);

    }

}

​

​