106 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Gentlemen, I believe we ought to feel a sense of duty in this matter 

 in furnishing apples to the consuming public of our state. There is no 

 good reason why Nebraska's people should eat apples of inferior quality, 

 when here in Nebraska we have the ^oil and climatic conditions which, 

 if given a fair chance to show what they can do, will produce fruit of 

 superior flavor, texture, odor, color, size, and all of the characters which 

 make up quality in apples. 



Nebraska's Jonathan, Grimes Golden, Winesap, Rome Beauty, York 

 Imperial, White Winter Pearmain, and Black Twig furnish a variety of 

 textures, flavors, odors, colors, sizes, and shapes which ought to satisfy 

 the numerous tastes, likes and dislikes of the average community. 



The writer has purposely avoided in the foregoing discussion of ap- 

 ples saying anything about Nebraska's Ben Davis, because Nebraska's 

 Ben Davis can stand alone and on its own merits. In comparing it with 

 apples of the same variety, grown in, the West, it is outstanding much 

 superior. In fact, I believe that Nebraska Ben Davis, when properly 

 grown, is a better eating apple than many of the high-class eating apples 

 of the western states. We have never advertised our Ben Davis as de- 

 sirable apples to eat out of the hand, but we can and do grow plenty of 

 others for that purpose. But the old and much abused Ben Davis has a 

 proper place among our varieties. It will stand alone and take care of 

 itself. The women, the cooks, will keep the Ben Davis on the market. 



A study of the Ben Davis apple as w© find it on the markets of our 

 state show that two things have been largely responsible for discrediting 

 this valuable variety. First, the fact that the Ben Davis commences to 

 color at an early stage in its development leads many of the small and 

 inexperienced growers to assume that it is ready to harvest in early 

 September. Consequently, a number of green, immature Ben Davis ap- 

 ples are thrown upon the market, while they are in condition wholly unfit 

 for human food, while in the average season this apple should not be picked 

 from the trees before the middle of October. The second reason why so 

 much discredit has come to the Ben Davis is the fact that so many growers 

 do not exercise proper care in handling and marketing. The apples are 

 bruised and jammed and generally abused, until the flesh of the fruit be- 

 neath the skin turns brown, becoming tough, unattractive, and unde- 

 sirable for use, while the texture of the Ben Davis will stand abuse in 

 handling better than many other varieties. Its value on the market and 

 to the consumer is greatly reduced by careless methods of handling. 



To verify the many assertions concerning the quality of Nebraska's 

 apples the writer imposed upon the good nature of some of the leading 

 commission merchants of a few cities along the Missouri river, where 

 Nebraska apples have been handled for twenty years. In answer to a 

 brief list of questions concerning the keeping qualities of Missouri river 

 apples, all of the commission merchants agreed that Nebraska apples, 

 properly grown and handled, would keep as good as apples from any part 

 of the United States. A few ventured the assertion that apples grown 

 in the same territory along the Missouri river would keep better than 



