1899 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
“FRIENDS OF BEN DAVIS MEET HERE." 
WHY THEY STAND BY HIM. 
“With all His Faults, We Love Him Still.” 
Late in the season the fruit stands in New York were 
supplied with Ben Davis apples. No one was to be seen 
eating them, but they disappeared somewhere. After all 
the whacks we have given Ben Davis, we want his 
friends to have their inning. His home folks take up 
the dry apple’s burden as follows: 
BEN DAVIS AT HOME.—We have planted largely 
of the Ben Davis, because it does well in our latitude, 
climate and soil, comes into bearing early (four years 
from nursery); seldom fails to give us a crop of fine, 
large, showy red apples. True it is a Ben Davis, 
but the Ben Davis of the Ozarks is not the Ben Davis 
of the North or East. Our apple is firmer, brighter 
color, and much more juicy, a good keeper and a 
money-maker. The tree is very vigorous, and roots 
well. The Jonathan does well with us, but is an early 
Fall apple. Winesap is, also, a fine apple, but the tree 
is not so vigorous. Huntsman, Grimes Golden, Yel¬ 
low Transparent are fine yellow apples, and York 
Imperial and Ingram two fine apples here; they are 
my choice. john t. snodgrass. 
Missouri. 
BAD BROTHERS HURT IT—The Ben Davis is 
peculiarly a western apple, and it has been as much 
of a mistake for eastern orchardists to plant it as for 
us to plant the Spitzenburg. Even parts of the West 
are not at all suitable, but when it is grown on the 
hills of Missouri, and especially on the Ozarks, it is 
a so much oetter apple that the people of the East 
would not recognize it as to quality for the same va¬ 
riety as is grown there. Here in southern Missouri it 
is a good apple, and it is a pity that it has made too 
much of its reputation on the quality of those eastern 
grown. We have a number of other fine red varieties 
in Missouri, the Winesap, York, Clayton, Mammoth 
Black Twig, Jonathan and Ingram, all good commer¬ 
cial apples, and grown extensively. If buyers would 
insist on Missouri Ben Davis, they would get good 
apples. L. A. GOODMAN. 
Missouri. 
BADLY WINTERKILLED.—The Ben Davis apple 
has been extensively planted in southwestern Iowa, 
Missouri and Nebraska, because, in those latitudes, it 
has been a healthy and hardy tree (excepting the past 
Winter) bearing young, regularly, and abundantly, 
when many other varieties of long-keeping Winter ap¬ 
ples failed. It has never been regarded an average 
good apple in quality, but is grown principally for the 
reasons above stated, and most of all, because it 
finds a ready sale in the markets, being showy and 
even sized. The Jonathan is planted quite extensive¬ 
ly, and is a No. 1 apple, but is not so reliable a bearer 
or as good a keeper as Ben Davis. None of the choice 
Winter apples of the East seems adapted to western 
orcharding. If the Ben Davis trees have met with 
the same fate south and west as they have in this 
latitude the past Winter, they, undoubtedly, will not 
be so extensively planted hereafter. In this region, 
they are nearly all winterkilled. c. h. true. 
Sec’y Northeastern Iowa nort. Society. 
NINE GOOD REASONS.—We westerners do not 
like Ben Davis to eat out of hand any better than 
you easterners. We plant it because: 1, with one ex¬ 
ception, it is the healthiest, hardiest and surest bearer 
of any of our Iowa apples. 2, it begins to bear early, 
sometimes in its fifth year. 3, it bears every year. 4, 
it produces heavy crops. 5, its fruit is large and of 
beautiful color. 6, the Ben Davis apple will keep un¬ 
til June or July of the following year. 7, it sells well. 
It is the most profitable apple we have. 8, the tree, 
especially when young, has a beautiful stem and top. 
9, other varieties may have their off years, or years 
when they bear but little fruit. The Ben Davis has 
no off years. One of our oldest Iowa horticulturists 
says, speaking of this variety, “We get the apples. 
We get the apples. We get the apples.” You of the 
East have apples of better flavor, but none of them, 
in our prairie orchards, comes anywhere near the 
Ben Davis in the nine qualities above mentioned. 
c. w. BURTON. 
Sec’y Southeastern Iowa Horticultural Society. 
COOKER AND CANNER.—The people of the West, 
especially of southern Iowa* raise the Ben Davis 
apple for the reason that it pays better than other 
varieties. The fact is that the Ben Davis has a 
large place for the reason that it is a good cooking 
apple, makes a good canning apple, and its uses are 
so varied, aside from eating out of hand, that it fills 
a large pl-ace. But from the standpoint of the grower, 
the trees we easily propagated, grow well and look 
well when growing. In addition to being thrifty, the 
trees make rapid growtn, bear young and regularly, 
and produce more barrels of salable fruit than most 
other varieties. The fruit is of good size, good color, 
looks well, handles well, sells well and keeps well. 
The trees thrive on almost all soils, and thrive where 
many other varieties fail. It is generally considered 
the most profitable market apple for this part of the 
country, and its range of successful growth extends 
far to the south and west of central Iowa. We can 
and do successfully grow Jonathan, Winesap, Grimes 
and many other apples of high color and quality, but 
the Ben Davis brings more money. 
G. II. VAN HOUTEN. 
Sec’y Iowa Agricultural Society. 
NOT MUCH ON FLAVOR.—All fruit growers are 
planting the varieties which will give prompt returns, 
and which can be placed on the market in firm and 
attractive condition. The Ben Davis seems to fill 
these requirements more fully, more generally per¬ 
haps, than any other variety. The trees are thrifty, 
bear young, generally give good crops of good-sized 
fruit, that will stand handling and shipping and 
“stand up well,” so that it gets into market in good 
condition, and its size and color sell it. It is some¬ 
thing like the Kieffer pear, not much to Drag on for 
quality, but it gives the fruit which will get to market 
in good condition, and sell. It has been contended 
for years that we must begin to grow better apples 
than the Ben Davis, but it still seems to hold its own 
pretty well. While there is no doubt that there is an 
increasing demand for finer varieties, we must not 
forget that the mass of people are not posted, and buy 
fruit entirely by its size and color. While I think 
there is a growing disposition to favor the finer varie¬ 
ties, yet it still continues to be Ben Davis in practice. 
Sec’y Illinois Hort. Society. l. r. bryant. 
“IT PAYS. ’—The main reason that western apple 
growers plant largely of the Ben Davis is because it 
is the apple, above all other apple's, that pays the best 
profits; in other words, the grower knows that an 
NICK OHMER STRAWBERRY. Pig. 202. 
See Ruralisms, Page 514. 
acre in Ben Davis, has in the past brought, on an 
average with any other variety, as much net money 
as any two acres of other apples would bring. While 
some people do not seem to like the Ben Davis as an 
apple to eat out of the hand, yet we all know that a 
well-colored, good-sized Ben Davis will, at all times, 
find ready buyers. It is for this reason that most 
of our young orchards are being planted to Ben 
Davis. While some people do not like the apple, on 
the other hand, the Ben Davis is one of our best cold 
storage apples, and as far as shipping quality is con¬ 
cerned, there is none better. The Ben Davis comes 
into bearing sooner than most others, and is a regular 
bearer from the time it commences. The tree is also 
a healthy and rapid grower, all of which is in its 
favor. ciias. c. bell. 
Missouri. 
JAPANESE PLANT ODDITIES. 
FREAKISH FERNS.—Among the imported novel¬ 
ties displayed by New York florists are ferns grow¬ 
ing in odd shapes—rings, links of chain, geometrical 
figures, houses, boats and animals. They are not clip¬ 
ped into shape, like the yew and box in old English 
gardens, but are trained upon bamboo frames. The 
plant used is one of the Hare’s-foot ferns, Davallia 
bullata. Most of the Davallias have spreading rhiz¬ 
omes, or rootstocks, upon the surface, these being so 
thickly clothed with fine reddish-brown scales as to 
look like fur. In some varieties, this furry coating is 
so marked that the tip of the rhizome may easily 
be mistaken for the paw of a small animal; hence 
the name of Hare’s-foot fern. The Japanese garden¬ 
ers make a bamboo frame with a moss filling, similar 
to the wire shapes used by our florists in making 
funeral designs, and fasten upon this dormant 
rhizomes of the fern which, under favorable condi¬ 
tions, spring into growth very readily. 
5i i 
Among the odd shapes seen, are queer little craft 
like the Chinese sampans, or house-boats, turtles with 
sprawling Lgs. lanterns, baskets, pagodas and storks. 
The Davallia does well in the house, if supplied with 
sufficient moisture, and these ferns, hung in the win¬ 
dow, or pendent from the branches of another plant, 
are much admired. The Japanese use them in those 
queer little formal gardens, of which they are so 
fond. 
DWARFED TREES.—Appropriate companions to 
the contortionist ferns are the dwarfed or, as they are 
sometimes called, naninized trees. They have been 
a specialty of Japanese gardeners for many centuries. 
We have seen trees reputed to be four centuries old, 
which were not three feet high, and they looked every 
day of their age, too—gnarled, knotted, age-scarred 
veterans in miniature. The dwarfing begins when the 
tree is but a tiny seedling, and is chiefly performed 
by cramping, clipping and scraping the roots. The 
Japan maples, to which reference has been made in 
Ruralisms, are quite readily dwarfed and quantities 
of them are now imported, to be used as house plants. 
A number of evergreen trees are thus dwarfed, the 
Mugho pine (Finns Mughus or Pumilio), making an 
extraordinary little knotty humpbacked tree. There 
are some famous dwarf trees in Japan, which have 
been on view for centuries, without, apparently, 
changing in size or appearance, many of them being 
in the gardens belonging to shrines or temples. We 
now see some of the slow-growing evergreens, such 
as the Umbrella pine recently figured in The R. N.- 
Y., and the Japan yews (Cephalotaxus) imported as 
pot plants for house and veranda decoration, but they 
must not be confused with the real dwarfed pot-grown 
trees, which are old enough to be forest giants, in¬ 
stead of the wizened little atomies to which they are 
reduced. 
One of our readers In Louisville, Ga., sends a section 
of a Black Locust tree that shows a remarkable growth. 
The seeds were planted July 23, 1898. On June 20, some 
of the trees were 7% feet high, and one Inch in diameter. 
The specimen sent is %-inch in diameter, and the wood 
is firm and solid. This growth of Black Locust in 11 
months from planting the seed shows what can be done 
with wood growth in the South. 
Taken as a whole, W. K. S., on p. 447, has given as fair 
an article on the Ben Davis apple as I have ever read. 
He has missed only one point—the one noticed by The 
It. N.-Y. in a late issue. There would be a demand for 
double the amount of apples if we could add eating 
quality to the other good points of the Ben Davis. Even 
those whose poor taste commends the quality of this 
variety, would, after a while, catch on. b. 
An Irrigating Fixture. —If you have occasion to use 
the hydrant water again, try the experiment of allowing 
the water to (low on to a board, on the edges of which 
are loosely nailed strips of narrow board, leaving cracks 
for the water to run through. We have pursued this 
method when we had 100 pounds pressure, with great suc¬ 
cess. No washing of the soil, and the water soaks evenly 
into the soil. *\ c. c. 
Maine. 
It Is not likely that many of our women readers will 
be inclined to take sealskin sacques to Europe, but a 
recent decision of the Treasury Department may be in¬ 
teresting. A New York woman took a sealskin sacque 
to Europe, and while there, had it cut up and made into 
other garments. She wanted to know whether these 
new garments would be liable to duty when brought 
back to this country. The Treasury decided that they 
will be. It says that the cutting up process practically 
makes new garments out of the sealskin sacque, and 
the duty must be paid. 
I have not noticed any marked difference In varieties 
of bush fruits as regards their ability to withstand 
drought. Generally speaking, the more vigorous and 
healthy the growth of the variety, the better it will 
withstand drought, or any other misfortune. It seems 
to me more a question of the character of the soil, and 
its ability to withstand drought, and the character of 
the cultivation given to the ground before planting. 
Black and red raspberries are very susceptible to 
drought, and I think more so than currants or black¬ 
berries, since they have finer roots, which do not have 
so wide a reach. chas. a. green. 
Best Early Apples.— The best two varieties of Summer 
apples in our vicinity are the Early William which, being 
large and very red, outsells all the others. It is styled the 
Queen of Beauty among early apples. It fits a large per 
cent of its crop for market primes, and there are few 
waste apples. Recently there has been heavy planting of 
this variety. The Red Astrachan produces early, and Yel¬ 
low Transparent is the best of our Summer apples. They 
have a sprightly, refreshing acidity, and to this refined 
acidity, the Princess Early adds the rich luscious quality 
that places it among all of the early apples, h. i. budd. 
Secretary New Jersey Horticultural Society. 
Big Strawberries.— Two weeks ago, we spoke of some 
large strawberries that were presented to Secretary Wil¬ 
son by A. T. Goldsborough, of Washington. We now re¬ 
ceive a statement from Wm. A. Taylor, acting Pomologist, 
who weighed and measured the strawberries. Six of the 
berries filled a quart box, and weighed 18.4 ounces. The 
average weight of each b^rry was 8.6 ounces. The 
largest berry had a circumference of 10(4 inches, with a 
diameter of 3(4 inches. It is said that a four-ounce 
berry has been recorded in England, and one of these 
berries grown by Mr. Goldsborough weighed four ounces. 
These were, without doubt, the largest strawberries ever 
exhibited at the Department. Mr. Goldsborough says 
that he intends to beat even this record next year, with 
the Louis Gauthier. He says that, if any of our readers 
want to compete for the four-ounce notch, or to better 
it in June, 1900, they would better begin their culture 
at once. 
