874 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
November 30 , 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
The Ben Davis Apple in New Jersey. 
—Tig. 440, jiage 871, is a portrait in 
natural size of a truly fancy Ben Davis 
apple grown near the coast of New Jersey. 
It is the product of good treatment in the 
way of liberal fertilization with marl and 
stable manure and careful thinning to 
avoid crowding of the fruits. The tree 
is probably 18 years old and stands in the 
sod of a clipped lawn, on good loamy 
soil. The only cultivation is to maintain 
a small circle of bare soil about the trunk 
and apply the fertilizers above mentioned 
during late Winter. They are raked off 
in Spring to avoid marring the lawn, but 
evidently furnish sufficient plant food for 
both tree and grass. Phosphoric acid and 
lime would appear in excess but the re¬ 
sults, after prolonged trial, appear all that 
could be desired, the tree regularly pro¬ 
ducing a fine crop of showy fruits that 
are principally used for table decoration. 
Not all are as large and perfect as the 
illustrated one, but they average finer than 
the best western Ben Davis that reaches 
the New York markets. The color is 
rich and high, the flesh tender, with little 
of the cottony texture usual with the 
variety when grown in the South and 
West, and the quality really good, though 
not comparable to standard dessert vari¬ 
eties. A trial showed that such apples 
would sell locally, on account of their 
fine appearance, for 65 cents the basket 
(]6-quart peach basket), though the lack 
of high apple flavor was well known. 
A Ben Davis Orchard. —Ben Davis was 
freely planted 15 to 20 years ago in the 
vicinity of the Rural Grounds on the 
strength of its western reputation as an 
early and prolific bearer and all-around 
money getter, though as a rule early 
apples are more profitable than the stand¬ 
ard late kinds that are often poor keepers 
when grown here. Where Ben Davis 
trees have been set in soil capable of pro¬ 
ducing good crops of corn, potatoes or 
wheat, and given fair attention, they have 
generally proved profitable, but on thin 
uplands and under neglect they are little 
more than nuisances, as the apples are 
small in size and too low in quality to 
command attention. Few are now planted, 
as such varieties as Oldenburg, English 
Codlin and Wealthy are considered likely 
to give better returns. An account of a 
local Ben Davis orchard may be of inter¬ 
est. There are 65 trees, 16 years old. The 
estimated crop is over 500 barrels—all en¬ 
gaged for export to Germany at $3.50 to 
$4.50 the barrel in the orchard. The 
apples are highly colored, of good size 
and perfect form. The owner does not 
spray, but keens his trees well manured 
and sufficiently pruned to allow full devel¬ 
opment of the fruits. The orchard has 
never been troubled with scale or other 
insect pests, but it is not at all likely 
that this fortunate condition will inde¬ 
finitely continue. Whether for better or 
worse Ben Davis, on account of its spe¬ 
cial qualities, has become our leading com¬ 
mercial apple. Many think it should no 
longer be planted, arguing that its aver¬ 
age low quality injures the sale of bet¬ 
ter apples, but it is likely to be grown as 
long as there is a good demand for it, 
and as good culture plainly improves its 
quality it should be well grown, if grown 
at all. 
Developing a White Canna. —About 13 
years ago the writer had access to a bet¬ 
ter collection of Canna varieties than was 
generally cultivated in this country at the 
time. There was little approaching the 
splendid recent kinds, with their immense 
blooms and enormous trusses, but there 
was a good ranve of colors, from yellow 
to scarlet and crimson, mostly in the 
small-flowered, narrow-petaled type. It 
appeared desirable to make a start toward 
the development of a white-flowered va¬ 
riety, if such were possible. Among 
many hybridizations one was effected be¬ 
tween a pale yellow variety of Canna In- 
dica and Alba-rosea grandiflora, a curi¬ 
ous hybrid of C. iridiflora, having oddly 
shaped corn-yellow and pink blooms, fad¬ 
ing to dull white, but narrow and irregular 
in form. No great improvements over 
the parents were secured, but the seed¬ 
lings plainly showed a blend of the parent 
types. Not being well equipped for carry¬ 
ing on the experiment, the plants and 
seeds were placed at the disposal of An¬ 
toine Wintzer, West Grove, Pa., who 
with rare skill and most unusual perse¬ 
verance has since continued the work on 
an extended scale. Acres of seedlings are 
annually grown, hybridizations and cross¬ 
ings made by the thousand and selection 
carried to its critical limit. Results are 
now nearing the ideal mapped out so long 
ago. Broad blooms of ivory whiteness are 
borne on productive plants of the most de¬ 
sirable habit, some with startling purple- 
bronze leaves as well as others with the 
usual lustrous green foliage. Whether a 
pure or paper-white Canna bloom may 
yet be bred is still undetermined. Mr. 
Wintzer goes ahead with undiminished 
enthusiasm, and if it is a physiological 
possibility of the genus Canna he will 
probably develop it. The various steps 
should be of interest to plant breeders 
unable to arrive at their ideals by means 
of a few summary crosses. 
Evolution of White-Bloomed Cannas. 
—There are many species of Canna, na¬ 
tives of tropical and semi-tropical Asia 
and America, but no really white flow¬ 
ered ones are found with the possible ex¬ 
ception of C. liliiflora, from Peru, a plant 
of difficult culture producing a few blooms 
of muddy white, quickly turning brown. 
It has proved useless as a breeder, the 
light color being overcome by the deeper 
tints of the other varieties with which 
it has been crossed. The other kinds are 
all strongly colored with red or yellow, 
generally in mixture, except C. iridiflora, 
before mentioned. The natural blooms are 
rosy crimson in color. Hybridiza- 
tions of Iridiflora made over 30 years 
ago by a Swiss florist resulted in several 
striking new varieties, among which was 
the large, drooping crimson-flowered 
Canna Ehmanni, so widely grown by the 
older generation of gardeners, and the 
Alba-rosea Grandiflora used in our early 
trial. The first distinct advance made by 
Mr. Wintzer in growing crosses of the 
latter was the vigorous and popular Al¬ 
sace, with abundant creamy white flowers, 
much larger than those of its immediate 
parents. Myriads of seedlings of Alsace, 
both cross-bred and self-pollinated, were 
thei aised, a superior one, since named 
Mom Blanc, finally appearing. It is with¬ 
out the shadow of a doubt the best “white’’ 
Canna that has appeared in commerce. 
The habit is dwarf and compact, and the 
growth is vigorous and healthy. The 
blooms are large and broad, well set in a 
fine truss or panicle and are produced 
with the utmost freedom. The color is 
not as pure as could be desired but is a 
great improvement on Alsace, in which the 
young flowers open very pale yellow and 
whiten as they grow older. Four genera¬ 
tions of seedlings of Mont Blanc have 
been raised <vith steady improvement. 
Those blooming the present season are 
great advances on any before seen. 
Other Fine Cannas. —The best Cannas 
were formerly produced by European 
breeders, but with the exception of King 
Humbert, which was raised in Italy and 
is a superb example of the giant-flowered 
race descending from Canna flaccida of 
our southern swamps the finest new va¬ 
rieties are of home production. Mr. 
Wintzer has bred a host of splendid 
kinds, many in absolutely new shades of 
rose and pink as well as brilliant reds 
and yellows. A collection of 18 varieties 
of his production, tested on the trial 
grounds of the Royal Horticultural So¬ 
ciety, of London, England, received more 
awards of merit than those of growers in 
any other country, a greater range of 
color being shown than in any other col¬ 
lection. Eight awards were made as fol¬ 
lows: Gladiator, red and yellow; William 
Saunders, scarlet; Uncle Sam, vermilion; 
the Duke of York, crimson, and Venus, 
rosy pink, and for three unnamed seed¬ 
lings.- _ w. v. F. 
Bismarck and Winter Banana. 
J. L. P., Barnegat, N. J .—Will Prof. Van 
Deman state his opinion of the merits of the 
Bismarck and the Flory, or Winter Banana 
apples? I had not thought either amounted 
to much in all probability, but I see that 
Winter Banana was considered good enough 
to send to the Czar, so am open to conviction. 
Are these varieties such early bearers as 
claimed? Would they be likely to do well, 
first, for family use, second, for commercial 
purposes, in Ocean Co., N. J.? 
Ans. —The Bismarck is a large oblate- 
conic red-striped apple of rather acid flavor 
and medium quality. The fruit keeps well 
into the Winter. As the tree bears very 
young and heavily it is worthy of being 
grown at least for trial. This variety is not 
yet well enough tested to warrant it being 
planted extensively for market, but it may 
become one of the kinds especially suited 
to planting as a filler between permanent 
orchard trees. Flory is a medium sized, 
conical and rich yellow apple of subacid 
flavor and fair quality. It is one of the 
most handsome of all yellow apples, and 
is very regular in form. It is a fairly 
good bearer and worthy of culture for 
family use or home market, but for gen¬ 
eral market purposes I do not think it 
very desirable, for it will not keep into 
the Winter, so far as I have seen it tested. 
Banana is a Winter apple in most sections 
but the prefix “Winter” has been dropped 
from the name because of the ruling of 
the authorities against nearly all double 
names. The fruit is a little more than 
average in size, roundish in shape, but 
slightly conical, clear creamy white in 
color with a most beautiful blush on the 
sunny side. It looks as if made of wax, 
especially the specimens I have seen on 
exhibit and on the trees on the Pacific 
slope. The flavor is subacid and really 
very pleasant and good, although not equal 
to the very best, such as Grimes and Jona¬ 
than. All of these varieties are likely 
to do as well in eastern New Jersey as 
other varieties and I would not fear to 
plant them either for home or market use 
where other apples succeed. 
h. e. van deman. 
OSCOODSCALES 
All kinds: Portable, Pit, Pitiess; Steel 
and Cement Construction. Guaran¬ 
teed accurate, reliable and dura¬ 
ble. Let us send you a scale 
on trial. Free catalogue. 
OSGOOD SCALE CO.. 157 Central St., Binghamton, X. Y. 
LET US TAN 
YOUR HIDE, 
Whether Steer, Bull, or Horse Hide, 
Calf, Dog, Deer, or any kind of hide 
or akin with the hair on, soft, light, 
odorless and moth-proof for robe, rug, 
ooat or gloves, and make them up when 
80 ordered. 
But first get our illustrated catalog, 
with prices, shipping tags and instruc¬ 
tions. We are the largest custom fur 
tanners of large wild and domestic 
animalskinsinthe world. 
We make and sell Natural Black 
Galloway fur coats and robes. Black 
and Brown Frisian, Black Dog Skin, 
and fur lined coats; also do taxidermy 
and head mounting. 
THE CROSBY FRISIAN FUR COMPANY, 
116 Mill Street, Rochester, N. Y. 
kk 
FUMA 
■ ■ kills Prairie Dogs, 
7 7 
Woodchucks,Gophers, 
and Grain Insects. 
“The wheels of the 
gods grind slow but 
exceedingly small.” So the weevil, but you can stop 
theU gHnd Bi8Ulphitle M ar S e doing! 
KDWARl) It. TAYLOR, Penn Yan, N. Y. 
Some Comments on 
HUBBARD’S 
FERTILIZERS 
“I get 50% more potatoes by using Hubbard’s” 
“Best asparagus I ever raised was with Hub¬ 
bard’s Soluble Potato Manure” 
“$28.00 worth of Hubbard’s Fruit Fertilizer 
is equal to 50 loads of manure” 
“500 to 700 bushels of onions per acre with 
Hubbard’s Soluble Tobacco Manure” 
“We are beginning to see the benefit of ‘Bone 
Base’ goods” 
“750 lbs. per acre of Hubbard’s Soluble Com 
and General Crops Manure has given splen¬ 
did com” 
“My ensilage com, about 11 acres, will aver¬ 
age about 12 feet high on the Complete 
Phosphate” 
"Hubbard’s Bone for poultry strengthens and 
invigorates the fowls ” 
Send for Almanac and Prices 
THE ROGERS & HURRARO GO. 
Fertilizer Manufacturers 
MIDDLETOWN, CONN. 
E. FRANK COE FERTILIZERS 
GENUINE PERUVIAN GUANO 
PERUVIAN BRANDS 
THOMAS PHOSPHATE POWDER 
HAVE GIVEN THOUSANDS OF FARMERS 
CAUSE FOR THANKSGIVING. 
Our booklet “RESULTS” will tell you why. 
Sent free if you mention The Rural New-Yorker. 
THE COE-MORTIMER CO., 
Manufacturers of E. FRANK COE BRANDS and 
PERUVIAN BRANDS. 
24 Stone Street, New York City. 
CUT ICE 
MADE 
IN > 
THREE 
SIZES. 
With the Dorsch Double Row 
Ice Plow We guarantee it will 
cut more than 20 men sawing by 
hand. Cakes are entunfiorm, 
of any site and thickness. One 
man and a horse will cut more ice In 
a day than the ordinary farmer and 
man can use. You can cut for others and 
make the price of our plow in two days use, 
Ask for catalogue and Introductory prices. 
JOHN OORSCH & SONS 226 WELLS ST.. MILWAUKEE, WIS 
. _ _ __ _ it will pay yon to spray your 
wyr Fruit Trees and Vines for pro- 
Ifiun | tection from scale and all Insect 
If I pests and fungus diseases. K11EK 
m P®" Instruction Book shows the 
W p famous EMPIRE KING, ORCHARD 
MONARCH and other sprayers; also gives a 
lot of formulas and other valuable information. 
FIELD FORCE PUMP CO.. No. 2 11th Sr.. Elmir*. N. Y. 
HURST sprayers 
P “"FREE TRIAL 
Xo Money in Advance—pay when 
convenient. The “FITZ-ALL” flts- 
on-any-barrel ortank. Sprays all so¬ 
lutions. Proven best and most dur¬ 
able. Guaranteed l*'ive Years. 
Braes Ball Valves Cylinder.Plunger, 
etc. Strainer Cleaner and 3 Agitators. 
200 lb. pressure.A hoy can operate it. 
After trial if you keep it—pay when 
you can. Wholesale price where no 
agent—Agents Wanted. Special 
Free Offer for first in each locality. “Spray¬ 
ing Guide" and full information FRKE. 
H.L.Hurst Mffl.Co., g North St.,Canton,0. 
x:V;v«j 
GET THE BEST 
A Good Spray Pump earns big 
profits and lasts for years. 
THE ECLIPSE 
is a good pump. As 
(practical fruit growers 
we were using common 
sprayers in our own orchards 
—found their defects and 
invented the Eclipse. Its 
success forced us to manu¬ 
facturing on a large scale. 
You take no chances. We 
have done all the experi¬ 
menting. Large fully illustrated Catalog and 
Treatise on spraying FREE. 
MORRILL & MORI.EY, Benton Harbor, Mich. 
PLANET Jr. 
BEST GARDEN TOOLS. 
Most benefit to crops with least effort. Most reliable; longest 
lasting. All cultivating parts of high-carbon steel. Best work¬ 
manship ; rigid inspection. Full value for your money in every 
one of the Planet Jr. line of 46 seeders, wheel hoes, horse lines, 
riding cultivators, etc. Write to-day for new Planet Jr. catalog. 
S. L. ALLEN & CO., Box 1 107V, Philadelphia, Pa. 
SCAIECIDE, 
SAVE YOVR TREES THIS FALL TILLSPRING 
The chances are they’ll be killed by San Jose Scale. Take time by the forelock- 
spray with 8CALECIDK. It kills every insect it touches. Cheaper than Lime- 
Sulphur or any home-made mixture, and easier to apply. Non-corrosive, non- 
lORDBR 1 
A 
1 barrel J 
1 NO*, 
clogging. 92 percent oil—the largest amount with less water than is found in any 
■ ” ’ -*- 1 -'0-gallon barrel at |25. Makes 800 or 
U. S. east of Mississippi and north 
now for free, special booklet N. 
B. G. PRATT CO., Mfg. Chemists, 
11 Broadway, New York City 
