Published by 
The Rural Publishing Co. 
333 W. 30th Street 
New York 
The Rural New Yorker 
The Business Farmer’s Paper 
Weekly, One Dollar Per Year 
Postpaid 
Single Copies. Five Cents 
Vol. LXXVI. 
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 13, 1915. 
No. 4352. 
The Apple Section of Illinois. 
The Home of Ben Davis. 
FRUIT CENTER.—The apple industry of Illi¬ 
nois is largely included in a compact group of 
eight counties in the southeastern part of the State. 
These counties are Clay, Richland. Marion, Wayne, 
Effingham, Jasper, Crawford and Cumberland. 
While many large and highly successful orchards 
exist outside of this group, yet from a commercial 
standpoint these are the leading apple counties. By 
comparison with the methods of orcharding in parts 
of New York or in the valley of Virginia, the meth¬ 
ods used in Illinois seem lacking in the refinements 
of the fine art of apple growing, yet despite the 
badly managed orchards this region gives a vast 
crop of a good quality of apples to supply the mar¬ 
ket of the Middle Western cities as well as some 
in the East. 
STARTING THE INDUSTRY.—Up to 25 years 
ago there were few large commercial orchards, 
though it was a matter of common knowledge that 
per tree than any of the others. I was, however, a 
little surprised to hear Mr. Slmdwell, the best posted 
buyer and storage man in the State, say that there 
are none too many Ben Davis, as there is always a 
market, and because of their texture they reach the 
market in better condition and give a more general 
satisfaction than better fruit. The Aiken is the 
highest quality apple of all. and were it not an un¬ 
certain producer it would displace all others. It is 
less subject to fungus attacks than other apples and 
the peculiar erect habit of growth makes the trees 
readily recognizable at all seasons. 
SPRAYING.—Up to 10 years ago the apple crop 
was mostly a matter of chance. Little care was 
given, and when the crop failed there was but little 
actual loss. Then came the scale, which found in 
the large, close-planted thick-headed, unsprayed 
trees the best of places to multiply. A few orchards 
died outright, but many of the owners have sprayed 
and kept their trees alive. Large power sprayers 
are in general use and the best practice is as good 
as anywhere. Notwithstanding this, there are fully 
as his reasons that only by this means could the 
pruning be kept in relation to the productiveness of 
the tree. While he could tell readily in Winter 
the record of the past year and the promise of the 
next, he could not employ men with the same in¬ 
telligence and skill. By Summer pruning a tree 
which is not bearing may be cut back and induced 
to put its strength into fruit buds for the next year, 
while a Winter pruning of the same severity would 
send up a thicket of water-sprouts. The June prun¬ 
ing shows where the fruit is growing, and enables 
the primer to leave the bearing wood in the center 
of a Grimes and make an open center on a Ben 
Davis or Kinnard. The trees are headed at 20 
inches, so that most of the limbs rest their load of 
fruit on the ground as shown in the pictures. Figs. 
503 and 500, while the three top branches may be 
roped together. 
DYNAMITE PLANTING.—New orchards are be¬ 
ing set with dynamite and in some of the old ones, 
the trees are being renovated by loosening the soil 
about their roots with small charges. As the years 
The “Winesap Corner” of a Southern Illinois Orchard. Grimes at Right for Pollination. Fig. 503. 
apples did well. About 1S90 the growth of cities 
and the improvements in transportation and re¬ 
frigeration made it easy to market fruit in many 
new places. At the same time the depletion of the 
thin stiff clay soil and the low prices of corn, wheat 
and meat urged the farmers to seek a new crop. It 
is very probable that the skillful exploitation of 
the Ben Davis apple was in part a reason for such 
extensive plantings; at any rate, the orchards were 
mostly set between 1890 and 1900, few being plant¬ 
ed since that time. The level or slightly rolling 
nature of the country gives the visitor an impression 
of inadequate air drainage, which the history of 
the region shows to be true, for late frosts have 
occasionally done considerable damage in low or¬ 
chards. 
VARIETIES GROWN.—A study of varieties 
shows that at least 90 per cent, of the apples are 
Ben Davis, while nearly every orchard has some 
of the Jonathan. Rome Beauty, Aiken and Winesap. 
with occasional plantings of Grimes Golden and 
others. Of these the Bens have made more money 
a third of the trees as yet unsprayed. The trees 
are too large to be readily killed by the scale, and 
their owners will not understand why they must 
do a thing which their grandfathers did not do. 
Such orchards would be more profitable if cut 
down and the land sown to Red-top, which is here 
an important seed crop. Cultivation came in with 
spraying, and the two are generally found together 
in all profitable orchards. On so impervious a soil 
there is no reason or excuse for sod or mulch. 
PRUNING.—The practice in pruning is generally 
to prune lightly, but keep the head low. In many of 
the most famous orchards, as that of Senator Dun¬ 
lap, the trees would be called “brush heaps” by a 
Pacific Coast orchardist. While sunscald might re¬ 
sult in the sunny Winters, a study of the Simpson 
orchards shows that an open head system increases' 
the size and color of the fruit, regulates excessive 
bearing, and makes spraying and picking easier. Mr. 
Simpson tells me that he is now practicing Summer 
pruning exclusively, going over the orchard once while 
in bloom and again in the middle of June. He gave 
go on, methods are improving both by the successful 
men learning the technique of the business and by 
the unteachable dropping out. Little fruit is boxed 
because the varieties grown are such as will be 
more cheaply marketed in barrels. The plantings 
are extensive; orchards of 40, GO and 80 acres being 
most common, while every neighborhood has one 
or more orchards of more than 100 acres. Many 
are set too close together, as the prevailing dis¬ 
tances are 25 and 30 feet apart. The trees, in 
thousands of cases, have already locked branches 
and begun to climb for light and air. 
INSECT TROUBLES.—Insects are as trouble¬ 
some as in all extensive orchard sections. Last year 
the Codling moth was unusually bad, as the second 
brood changed its habits and in many cases en¬ 
tered the apple at the side, making it difficult to 
give him enough poison. This year they were easily 
controlled with arsenate of lead. For scale, most 
growers use readymade lime-sulphur, though the 
dry powdered soluble sulphur gave good results. 
The tiea-beetle is troublesome about Flora, Ill., and 
