PRICE FIVE CENTS 
*2.00 PER TEAR. 
NEW YORK, FEB 3, 1883 
Vol XLII. No 1723 
(Entered according to Act of Congress, In the year 1883, by the Rural New-Yorker, In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.] 
G. W. Campbell thinks it for Ohio one of the 
best for hardiness and market. It is highly 
commended for Iowa. It is said to be among 
the best keepers in Georgia. We are indebted 
to Ex-Gov. R.W, Furnas, of Nebraska, for the 
specimens from which our engravings have 
been executed. 
far superior in quality, whether for the dessert 
or for culinary purposes. Indeed, the Bald¬ 
win, wherever it is successful, is superior to 
the Ben Davis in every particular, whether 
of tree or fruit, if we except its increased lia¬ 
bility to the attacks of the codling moth, and 
its comparative exemption from the attacks 
of the codling moth, all conspire to render it 
popular with the incipient commercial orch- 
ardist, as well as with those who buy by sight. 
On the other hand, like most Southern fruits, 
it fails to maintain its quality when grown at 
The Opinions of Ex-Gov. Furnae, 
Thomas, P. Barry and T. T. Lyon 
regarding it. 
Dutch Mignonne Not the Blenheim 
Pippin, 
I wish to say to Dr. Hoskins, through the 
Rural, that the Dutch Mignonne never had 
legitimately the alias of Blenheim Pippin. 
The apples are distinct in their origin, and 
differ in their period of ripening. The first 
was raised from the pip in Holland; the oth¬ 
er, in England. Pippin is simply fruit from 
the seed, or pip [this for others, and not the 
Doctor]. The difference between Dutch 
Mignonne and Blenheim Pippin is seen in the 
young wood—that of the first being fuzzy and 
dark brown, while that of the latter is clean 
and light reddish brown. The first is only 
medium in size, never—well, hardly ever— 
above; the latter grows large without extra 
nourishment. The Dutch Mignonne is much 
the better keeper, and the better apple. 
If the Doctor will turn to D. M. of “ Fruits 
and Fruit Trees” in the large edition, he will 
find two paragraphs following the description 
of D. M., which do not belong to it but are 
descriptive of B. P. These should have been 
cut out of the stereotype plate in making up 
the edition, as I find Mr. Downing has erased 
them from his own copy which he occasionally 
revises. This situation may be the misleading 
cause in the mind of the Doctor. 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. A. A. Bbnsel. 
West More trees are reieed end sold of tins 
than of any other variety. Its quality, to 
me, is very poor. As a rule, however, qual¬ 
ity to a great extent depends on individual 
taste. A majority of apple consumers, it 
is safe to say, care but little about the 
quality of an apple so long as it is an apple, 
and know as little as to varieties. 
Brownville, Neb. 
FROM J. J. THOMAS. 
The Ben Davis stands as high in the West 
and Southwest, as a market apple, as the 
Baldwin at the East. It rather exceeds the 
Baldwin in its fair and handsome appearance, 
but is much inferior to it in quality when each 
is grown in its best locality. The Ben Davis 
is a fine grower, great bearer, hardy, and the 
fruit is very salable—its poor quality is Its only 
drawback. I do not suppose it would be of 
any value grown at the East. I have seen it 
occasionally at the West, and cannot judge of 
It so well as many others. 
Union Springs, N. Y. 
FROM P. BARRY. 
I regard the Ben Davis as much inferior to 
the Baldwin—1 mean, of course, when both 
are grown here. The Ben Davis, as grown at 
the Southwest, is a very large, showy fruit of 
second or third quality. Large quantities of 
it have been received in our markets this season. 
I am informed by a correspondent at Van 
Buren, Ark., that the Ben Davis is the princi¬ 
pal variety grown lu the hilly country north 
of the Ozark Mountains, one of the finest ap¬ 
ple regions in the United States. We have 
also received large quantities of Wine Saf 
from the West. This is an apple of fine quality. 
There have also been sent to us large quan 
tities of a smooth, round, dark-purple apple 
of very good quality. I am iuformed that 
this is a seedling of Arkansas and has many 
names, as Black Arkansas, Black Wine Sap, 
Black Limber Twig, etc. The failure of our 
apple crop has made ns somewhat acquainted 
with the Western fruits. 
Rochester, New York. 
FROM T. T. LYON. 
It may be assumed ns a well-nigh infallible 
rule that apple trees of varieties originating 
at the South are more hardy at the North than 
the average of chose originating in that lati¬ 
tude. To this rule the Ben Davis (probably a 
native of Kentucky] is certainly not an ex¬ 
ception, since in Michigan it is hardy even as 
far north as latitude 46 a —possibly even farther. 
The vigor, habit and productiveness of the 
tree, and the size, color, and keeping and 
handling qualities of the fruit, together with 
Ben Davis—Cross Section—From Nature—Fig. 47. 
perhaps a greater liability to drop its fruit, 
from this cause, combined with the effect of 
high winds. 
South Haven, Mich. 
the North, and when we recollect that, even 
in its native region, it ranks as low as second 
or third in quality, we shall scarcely be dis¬ 
appointed to learn the fact that, when grown 
as far north as 43 to 45 degs., except, possibly, 
in an unusually warm and protracted season, 
it will be found little more palatable than a 
raw potato, which it will fully rival as a keeper. 
The St. Lawrence Apple.— Dr. Hoskins, 
in a late Rural, says this apple is of large 
size, and remarks that we must either have 
another apple or else Jersey sand is not favor¬ 
able to this variety. I have seen applee of 
this variety that were large enough, but gen¬ 
erally they are just below what the market 
demands, and they are so when grown on 
Pennsylvania red shale or Jersey clay or on 
any other sort of soil. The truth of the mat¬ 
ter is, that it is too far south here for this ap¬ 
ple. It has been well disseminated through 
Jersey from the New York State nurseries. 
Mercer Co., N. J. Ira J. Blackwell. 
According to the Am.Pomological Society, 
Ben Davis succeeds best in the following States: 
Oregon, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, 
(BiJiicatifitml 
Professor Caldwell’s recent article in 
the Rural, on this subject, is deserving of 
notice. We all esteem him to be an honest 
man, who is working according to his best 
judgment in the interests of agriculture. 
Personally the writer has a sincere respect 
for him, and wishes to say nothing unkind or 
unjust of his article. I presume he did not 
intend to overstate the indifference of farm¬ 
ers ; but I have occasion to know that there is, in 
Ohio at least, & much stronger deeire on the 
part of many to give at least one of their sons 
a thorough scientific knowledge of agricul¬ 
ture, than Professor Caldwell seems to dream 
of. The question is, shall we who feel thus send 
our sons to an ordinary college in the vicin¬ 
ity 1 Shall we make farmers of them if we 
do I Up to about 1370, statistics showed that 
though more than half the endowments, and 
more than half the students of our denomina¬ 
tional colleges, come from the farmers and 
the farms, yet much less thau one fiftieth of 
the graduates return to the farms. They are ab¬ 
sorbed by the learned professions, or by com¬ 
merce and manufactures. This is notorious. 
The learned president of an agricultural col- 
Bkn Davis Apple—From Nature—Fig. 43. 
Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, South Car¬ 
olina, Georgia, Indian Territory, Louisiana 
and Texas. In Nova Scotia it is reported as 
promising well, coloring well and keeping well. 
In parts of Pennsylvania it promises well. 
The tree will succeed even farther north 
than will the Baldwin; but wherever the lat¬ 
ter is successful, it w ill be found decidedly 
more vigorous, and even more productive 
than the former, while the fruit will be found 
