BEN DA VIS STILL ON TRIAL. 



63 



season than any year previously, and that 

 from the States they had had an influx of 

 24,000, and that their company had sold 

 one million acres of land. 



I had thought the long, cold winters al- 

 most an insuperable barrier to successful 

 cultivation, but the Canadians assure me it 

 is not so bad as we imagine, and that the 

 snow on land and ice on the lakes and rivers 

 opens up roads for hauling which are impass- 

 able in summer, and though the frosts are 

 very severe, the wood of the trees is so well 

 ripened that it escapes uninjured ; and the 



air is so dry that it is not unpleasant to 

 human beings. 



The return journey was made from Mon- 

 treal by the Allan line, and the steam down 

 the St. Lawrence, past Quebec, is a very 

 pleasant one, and somewhat exciting in 

 shooting the Lachine Rapids above Mon- 

 treal. We could not take the northern 

 route, as the straits were blocked with 

 icebergs, and in passing out to the south of 

 Newfoundland we saw the floe ice breaking 

 up on the rocky coast." 



BEN DAVIS STILL ON TEIAL. 



POOR old Ben ! We fear his days are 

 numbered as heading the list of most 

 profitable commercial apples. He has had 

 very enthusiastic defenders, but their defence 

 has been largely based upon his good looks, 

 and his critics are probing beneath the surface 

 and say he lacks in intrinsic merit, and that 

 he cannot stand the test of time. And now 

 that his family has become so numerous, it 

 is evident they are held as very common sort 

 of folks. 



In Green's Fruit Grower, for example, we 

 find J. L. Burton asking : 



' ' Shall we go on setting the Ben Davis apple as 

 we have been doing here in the Western and Cen- 

 tral States for many years past ? The buyers are 

 beginning to complain of too many of this old 

 favorite moneymaker and we are in doubt of the 

 proper thing to do about planting the trees." 



And Mr. H. E. VanDeman replies : 



"There is no doubt that the millioris of 



bushels of Ben Davis apples grown in the 



Mississippi valley, and farther westward, 



have made a great impression upon the 



markets of this country and Europe. It is 



the greatest of all our apples for business 



purposes, but not so much can be said of it 



in point of real value by the consumers. 



They want something better to eat and are 



demanding it. They are willing to pay 



for it, too. 



" When I was in the states of Oregon and 

 Washington two years ago I found a rising 

 sentiment against ' Old Ben,' not only 

 among the people who ate them but on the 

 part of the dealers. They would scarcely 

 take a big lot ot this variety unless there 

 were some Jonathan, Newtown, Rome 

 Beauty or other good kinds to go with them. 

 The good ones had to help bad ones. The 

 same state of things now exists in the Cen- 

 tral states. There is a fair apple crop in 

 Missouri, Kansas, Illinois and that whole 

 region, and in the big markets, such as St. 

 Louis, there is an over-suppply of Ben Davis 

 apples. They bring little more than half 

 the price that Winesap, Jonathan, Hunts- 

 man and other varieties of good quality 

 do. 



" My belief is, that those who are setting 

 orchards will do well to take warning from 

 these practical pointers from the business 

 world and plant less of Ben Davis — and the 

 same is true of Gano, which latter is no bet- 

 ter in quality — and plant more of the really 

 good apples. There will be more money in 

 them in time to come, although for late keep- 

 ing and the rough-and-tumble of the market 

 ' Old Ben ' will long hold a prominent 

 position." 



