Winter Meetins:. 237 



"is 



from which Black Ben Davis was introduced. It was found that 

 this latter tree was destroyed some years ago, to make room for an 

 addition to the house, and that the trees propagated from it by i\Tr. 

 Guthrie were said to be the first that had been propagated from it. 

 The committee visited the spot where the old tree stood. From Mr. 

 Thomas, the present owner, from old friends and neighbors of Par- 

 son Black and of Mr. Reagan and from others we learned that this 

 tree began growth there sometime between 1865 and 1869. No one 

 of them would venture a statement as to v.^here that tree came from 

 or whether it came from a seed or was brought there from some other 

 place. They were all well acquainted with its having been there, 

 with the fact that it was one of the best varieties in the neighborhood, 

 that it produced very regular crops of its well known, large, highly 

 colored, beautiful apples, but were not sure as to whether or not the 

 tree was a seedling. ' 



A letter from Air. Guthrie, who first propagated from it, confirmed the 

 statements made by the people who have lived in the vicinity of the 

 old Black home, together with the additional statement that the tree 

 was a seedling. The evidence which he gave in support of the state- 

 ment that it was a seedling was that it did not seem probable that 

 anyone would plant a tree so close to the house and the cellar, so he 

 judged that it came up accidentally. The committee found other 

 cases, however, where trees had been planted as close to other houses 

 in the neighborhood as this one formerly was to the old Black resi- 

 dence. 



The committee was able to locate then the original Black Ben 

 Davis tree so far as it was known in the neighborhood, but could 

 obtain no positive evidence as to whether or not this tree was a seed- 

 ling. It was found also that the variety had locally sometimes been 

 called Reagan, in honor of the owner of the farm at the time the 

 variety was being propag'ated there. The introducers used the name 

 Black Ben Davis, selecting the word Black in honor of the owner of 

 the place where the first tree started in the neighborhood and the 

 name Ben Davis because the apple was of the Ben Davis type and in 

 some respects resembled the latter variety. The committee also 

 saw Black Ben Davis growing on younger trees in the neighborhood 

 of Lincoln, and took specimens of fruit and twigs from various place? 

 to compare with Gano. 



The history of the Gano apple, so far as it is known, has been 

 secured by the committee through data furnished by W. G. Gano. 

 M, Butterfield, A. L. Zimmerman, Blair, Kaufifman and others. From 

 the data obtained from the above gentleman and from personal investiga- 



