408 ILLINOIS STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Oil any soil. The flavor of the fruit is not as good as that of the 

 Jonathan ; but the apples are all fair, of fine size, well colored, and 

 keep well. 



Several gentlemen gave their experience with this now popular 

 variety, all agreeing that it is wonderfully productive, and that as long 

 as it will sell well it bids fair to stand at the head of the list as an apple 

 to sell. 



Dr. Ennis said he never eats this apple \ yet it will sell as well in 

 market as Jonathan, and that the trees will bear four times as much fruit 

 as Jonathan. He knew it is a nice thing to look for quality in an apple ; 

 yetj when a man raises fruit to sell, he wants the fruit which will bring 

 him the greatest number of dollars. 



Mr. Cochran had found Ben Davis of pretty good quality, where 

 grown on a light soil, underdrained by a gravelly subsoil — much better 

 than when grown on stiff soils. 



Mr. Minkler — I set out Ben Davis trees, sixteen feet apart, to grow 

 for fence posts. I nail on laths and attach wires. They are good for 

 this use, and the fruit is good — to sell. I don't sell it to my neighbors, 

 but take it to market, and there its hide sells it. Handsome, fair, red 

 apples, of good size, are the ones to offer in the market, where purchasers 

 will go by appearance, and not by quality. 



WILLOW TWIG. 



Mr Wier — I have in one orchard one hundred Ben Davis, and one 

 thousand each of Willow Twig and Jonathan ; and the Willow Twig trees 

 are one-third larger and produce more apples than the Jonathans. If I 

 were to name the two varieties having the most money value for market 

 in Northern Illinois, I would name Willow Twig and Ben Davis. 



Mr. Whitney (of Lee county) — I can make as much money from 

 five hundred Willow Twig trees as from a thousand of Ben Davis. My 

 soil is clayey with no gravel below. 



Mr. Minkler — Willow Twig apples should not be sold till April or 

 May, when they will bring a high price ; hence there is more money in 

 them than in other sorts that are not as good keepers. 



Several other members spoke of the value of this variety as a long- 

 keeper, though no one called its quality excellent. One said that it was 

 only good after all others were gone. 



Mr. Nelson said it scabbed on his grounds, and was much infested 

 by codling-moths. 



