180 EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



which would seciu reasoiial)]c, for Ben Davis died in 185S at the 

 age of fiftj-six, or soon after the earliest date at which this tree 

 could have borne, and in this case he could not have been con- 

 cerned with the growth and distribution of the fruit, as it seems 

 beyond question that he was. The writer has attempted to 

 learn the facts about this, but thus far without success. 



It would seem possible that the apple originated in Tennessee, 

 as related by Mr. Hodges, and that the fruit, carried by the 

 drovers into Kentucky, came to the notice of the Kentucky Ben 

 Davis, who lived on the route which w^ould bo traveled, and, be- 

 ing a nurseryman, he was attracted by the fruit and took steps 

 to secure scions, by which he propagated and disseminated the 

 variety. If this is true, however, it is hard to explain why the 

 apple was called the Virginia Pippin. 



Another possible explanation is that the apple may have 

 " originated " twice, or, to put it in another w^ay, two varieties 

 appeared, one in Kentucky and the other in Tennessee, and both 

 were called the Ben Davis and resembled each other so closely 

 as to be confused; or it is even possible that the two were dis- 

 tinct, and that one of them was not the Ben Davis we now know 

 at all. A third possibility is that it first appeared in Kentucky, 

 and that the Tennessee tree was a graft derived from it. 



That both the accounts are true in the main, at least, is not 

 doubted by the writer, and the Tennessee story is vouched for by 

 several people of prominence and reliability residing in that 

 neighborhood. It is likewise evident that the Avhole truth is not 

 set forth. 



Wherever the place of origin may have been, the variety was 

 first brought to public notice from Kentucky. The first pub- 

 lished notice of it seems to have been in the " Horticulturist " 

 for 1856, and Dowming describes it in the "Fruits and Fruit 

 Trees of America," edition of 1857, as received from Mr. J. S. 

 Downer of Elkton, Ky. From this time on the mention of it in 

 pomological publications is frequent. At the time when Down- 

 ing descril)ed it it was spread over Kentucky, southern Indiana 

 and Illinois, and Avas known in Missouri. It is stated by 

 Ezekiel Honsingcr of Burnt Prairie, 111., that his father 

 grafted tlie Ben Davis in White County, 111., about 1825, ob- 

 taining the scions from a neighbor, ]\Ir. Funkhouser, and he 



