THE APPLES OF NEW YORK. 71 



raised, of a clear straw color, moderately conspicuous. Buds medium to large 

 or broad, obtuse, appressed, sunken in the bark, very sparingly pubescent. 

 Leaves large, long, rather broad. 



FRUIT. 



Fruit usually above medium to large. Form roundish, varying from some- 

 what conic to somewhat oblong, broad, rounded at the base, often somewhat 

 elliptical or slightly irregular, sides sometimes unequal ; pretty uniform in 

 shape and in size. Stem medium to long, rather slender. Cavity acute, 

 moderately deep to deep, of medium width, nearly symmetrical, often partly 

 russeted or with outspreading rays of thin greenish russet. Calyx medium, 

 closed or sometimes partly open; lobes rather short, of medium width, acute. 

 Basin abrupt, medium in width and depth, varying to shallow and narrow 

 and rather obtuse, sometimes furrowed, usually oblique. 



Skin tough, waxy, bright, smooth, usually glossy, clear yellow or greenish, 

 mottled and washed with bright red, striped and splashed with bright dark 

 carmine. Dots inconspicuous, small, scattering, light, whitish or brown. Pre- 

 vailing effect bright deep red or red striped. 



Calyx tube varies from short and cone-shaped to rather wide and funnel- 

 form with rather long cylinder and frequently with fleshy projection of pistil 

 point into its base. Stamens median to marginal. 



Core medium, axile, closed or partly open ; core lines clasping when the tube 

 is funnel-form, meeting or slightly clasping when it is cone-shaped. Carpels 

 rather fiat, roundish or inclined to obovate, very emarginate, mucronate. Seeds 

 large, long, irregular, rather wide, plump, acute, dark brown. 



Flesh whitish, slightly tinged with yellow, firm, moderately coarse, not very 

 crisp, somewhat aromatic, juicy, mildly subacid, good. 



Season January to June. 



DIFFERENT TYPES OF BEN DAVIS. 



Some assert that it is possible to recognize as many as four distinct types 

 or strains of Ben Davis. So far as we know none of these types, if such 

 exist, is being kept separate under propagation. It is certain that Ben Davis 

 shows great variations in fruit in different parts of the country, in some 

 cases so much so that those unfamiliar with it would not recognize fruit of it 

 from different regions as being of the same variety. 



Various seedlings of Ben Davis which have been introduced into cultivation 

 show more or less resemblance to the parent and to each other. In the case 

 of Gano and Black Ben Davis a notable controversy has arisen among nursery- 

 men and fruit growers as to whether these are distinct varieties or identical. 

 The Gano is known to some extent in New York. It resembles its parent 

 Ben Davis very closely in the nursery, but it is unmistakably distinct from 

 it in fruit. So far as we have tested it, it seems to be better adapted to New 

 York conditions than is the Ben Davis. 



Rutledge, Arkansas Belle, Etris and Eicke also belong in the Ben Davis 

 group. 



BENTLEY. 



REFERENCES, i. Emmons, Nat. Hist. N. Y., 3:100. 1851. fig. 2. Downing, 

 1857:121. 3. Elliott, 1858:122. 4. Warder, 1867:558. 5. Thomas, 1885:227. 

 6. Lyon, Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1890:288. 7. Budd-Hansen, 1903:47. 



SYNONYMS. BENTLEY SWEET (4). BENTLEY'S SWEET (i, 2, 3, 5). 



