•P*  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
951 
Ruralisms 
Planting  the  Home  Orchard 
1.  I  have  four  fruit  trees — a  cherry, 
quince,  pear,  and  crabapple,  that  were 
transplanted  this  Spring.  They  are 
not  doing  well.  The  leaves  are  curling 
and  a  lot  of  them  are  falling  off ;  the 
buds  of  the  quince  blossoms  all  dropped 
off.  The  trees  are  three  years  old  and 
were  very  carefully  handled.  2.  I 
should  like  to  know  how  I  can  handle 
a  lot  25x150  feet  to  best  advantage 
with  fruit.  I  should  like  an  assort¬ 
ment  for  home  use  of  apple,  cherry, 
pear,  peach,  raspberry,  strawberry,  as¬ 
paragus,  and  grape.  Will  you  tell  me 
some  good  varieties  of  each  to  plant 
and  also  the  distances  apart  to  set. 
Hawthorne.  N.  Y.  m.  h.  s. 
1.  Of  course  it  is  impossible  to  tell 
just  what  ails  the  trees  in  question.  It 
may  be  that  the  stock  was  poor,  or  the 
dry  weather  has  affected  the  trees.  The 
perhaps  the  highest  quality  berry 
grown ;  and  the  three  new  berries  rec¬ 
ommended  by  the  Geneva  Station,  Bea¬ 
con,  Bliss  and  Boquet,  are  worth  test¬ 
ing.  The  June  red  raspberry  is  a  good 
early  sort,  and  Cuthbert  is  a  general 
favorite.  The  Eclipse  grape  is  a  black 
variety  of  rather  small  size,  but  hav¬ 
ing  earliness  as  a  redeeming  feature; 
Worden  is  an  early  mid-season  variety 
of  good  quality,  and  Herbert  is  a  long- 
keeping  kind  worth  considering.  These 
are  just  a  few  suggestions,  but  they 
may  help  you  in  your  search.  After  all 
is  said  and  done,  the  personal  choice  is 
one  of  the  biggest  factors  in  the  selec¬ 
tion  of  varieties. 
Planting  distances  are  as  follows: 
Apples,  35  to  45  ft.  each  way ;  cherries, 
The  Story  of  the  Ben  Davis  Apple 
A  VARIETY  with  such  a  blunt  and  simple  name  could  hardly  have 
originated  anywhere  but  in  America.  Yet  though  the  Ben  Davis 
probably  originated  in  either  Tennessee,  Kentucky  or  Virginia  about 
the  first  of  the  last  century,  the  exact  place  and  time  of  its  origin  will 
likely  never  be  known.  Tennessee  would  claim  the  variety  on  the 
ground  that  there  lived  in  Hamblen  County,  Tennessee,  up  until  1860,  a 
wealthy  farmer,  whose  name  was  Ben  Davis,  on  whose  farm  the  apple 
bearing  his  name  is  said  to  have  originated,  and  from  where  it  was 
disseminated  into  adjoining  States  by  travelers  along  the  stock  route 
from  the  Carolinas  to  Kentucky. 
Virginia,  however,  explains  the  presence  of  the  grafts  on  the  farm 
of  Ben  Davis  by  relating  how  John  D.  Hill,  who  had  emigrated  to  Ken¬ 
tucky  in  1799  with  William  Davis,  a  brother  of  Captain  Ben  Davis, 
brought  scions  back  to  Kentucky  upon  the  return  from  a  business  trip 
into  Virginia.  And  Kentucky  claims  the  variety  because  it  was  from 
that  State  that  it  was  extensively  distributed,  while  even  Illinois  at 
one  time  demanded  recognition  of  “Funkhouser,”  a  synonym  of  Ben 
Davis,  as  the  true  name  of  the  variety,  claiming  that  a  Mr.  Funkhouser 
at  Burnt  Prairie,  Ill.,  had  raised  the  variety  from  seed.  Yet  it  is  quite 
noticeable  that  the  clamor  for  the  honor  of  being  the  home  of  the  Ben 
Davis  is  not  so  loud  since  the  word  “Ben  Davis”  has  become  a  name 
odious  to  American  housewives. 
The  Ben  Davis  ranks  next  to  the  Baldwin  in  commercial  impor¬ 
tance,  and  reigns  over  a  wider  area  than  any  apple  in  America.  Despite 
the  low  quality  of  the  fruit  and  the  low  prices  received  for  it,  the  vigor 
of  the  tree  and  the  regular  and  abundant  habit  of  bearing  has  made  the 
variety  one  of  the  most  profitable  commercially.  The  trees  begin  life  in 
the  nursery  with  a  characteristic  rapidity  of  growth  which  is  the  joy 
of  the  nurseryman;  and  in  the  orchard,  over  a  diversity  of  soil  and 
climatic  conditions,  they  grow  well  and  come  into  bearing  at  an  early  age. 
It  is  primarily  an  apple  of  the  South.  In  the  North  it  frequently 
does  not  mature,  often  lacks  color  and  size,  and  is  of  even  lower  quality 
than  in  its  more  favored  home.  When  it  is|  at  its  best  the  large  size, 
neat,  regular  outline,  attractive  mottlings  and  washings  of  red  and 
bright  striping  of  carmine  over  a  yellow  ground  color  delight  the  unwary 
and  unsuspecting  recipient.  The  rather  coarse  and  tough,  not  overly 
juicy,  whitish  flesh,  and  the  almost  total  absence  of  flavor  has  made  the 
name  “Ben  Davis”  a  synonym  for  all  that  is  evil  among  fruits.  Yet 
along  in  May  or  June,  when  most  other  fruits  have  gone  and  the  new 
crop  has  not  yet  arrived,  give  many  a  person  an  “Illinois  Red”  or  a 
“New  York  Pippin,”  as  barrels  have  occasionally  been  misbranded,  and 
the  very  person  who  so  denounced  the  Ben  Davis  will  sing  the  praises 
of  so  long-keeping  an  apple.  With  the  perfection  of  modern  cold  storage 
and  the  development  of  transportation,  this  last  fort  of  the  Ben  Davis 
gives  way,  and  higher  quality  fruits  take  its  place.  The  evaporators, 
however,  still  prefer  the  large,  white  rings  of  the  Ben  Davis,  while  for 
kitchen  use  the  variety  is  far  from  the  poorest. 
Unquestionably  the  popularity  of  the  Ben  Davis  is  on  the  wane,  due 
as  much  to  a  weakness  in  a  tree  that  has  been  considered  almost  fault¬ 
less  as  to  any  propaganda  directed  at  the  low  quality  of  the  fruit.  The 
Illinois  blister-canker,  which  flourishes  in  the  southern  part  of  Ohio, 
Indiana  and  Illinois,  and  in  the  Ozark  region  generally,  has  found  a 
likely  host  in  the  Ben  Davis  tree,  and  the  variety  is  no  longer  being 
planted  there.  When  the  very  region  in  which  it  has  been  most  admired 
begins  to  forsake  it,  the  day  of  the  Ben  Davis  can  truthfully  be  said  to 
be  on  the  decline.  h  b  t 
curling  of  the  leaves  suggests  plant 
lice,  in  which  event  nicotine  sulphate 
will  give  relief. 
2.  If  we  had  a  small  piece  of  this 
description  we  should  plant  only  those 
things,  fruit  of  which  we  could  not  se¬ 
cure  easily  on  the  market  and  which 
16  to  22  ft.  each  way;  peaches,  18  to 
22  ft.  each  way;  pears,  IS  to  20  ft. 
each  way;  grapes,  8  ft.  by  6  ft.,  and 
raspberries  in  rows  6  to  7  ft.  apart, 
with  plants  2  or  3  ft.  apart  in  the  row. 
H.  B.  T. 
we  especially  desired.  That  is.  we 
should  let  the  person  who  had  the 
room  grow  our  apples  for  us,  although 
one  tree  of  McIntosh  or  Wealthy  would 
not  be  out  of  place.  A  Seckel  or  Dana 
Hovey  pear  would  not  take  up  much 
room,  and  a  Champion  peach  tree 
would  be  the  envy  of  the  neighborhood. 
Among  cherries,  Elton  and  Coe  are  two 
high-quality  varieties  worthy  of  a 
place  in  the  home  garden,  while  Kirt- 
land  and  Governor  Wood  are  among 
the  best.  For  strawberries.  Premier  or 
Howard  No.  17  is  a  fine  berry  with 
which  to  start  the  season;  Marshall  is 
Wayside  Jelly 
A  handsome,  firm  and  delicious  jelly, 
which  can  hardly  be  distinguished  from 
the  best  currant  jelly,  is  made  as  fol¬ 
lows:  Three  quarts  of  half-ripe  wild 
grapes,  one  quart  of  elderberries.  Free 
the  fruit  from  any  stems  before  measur¬ 
ing;  add  water  to  barely  cover  and  boil 
until  soft.  Strain,  measure,  return  to 
the  fire  and  boil  20  minutes.  Heat  sugar 
in  proportion  of  three-fourths  of  cup  to 
one  cup  of  juice,  combine  the  two,  boil 
one  mindte,  and  <pour  into  sterilized 
glasses.  The  fruit  can  be  had  for  the 
picking  in  most  country  districts. 
B.  G.  D. 
Our  earnings  in 
hauling  your  products 
THE  Government  does  not  guarantee  us  any 
income. 
The  rates  fixed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  are  intended  to  be  such  as  will  enable 
the  railroads  as  a  whole  to  earn  at  least  534%  on 
the  value  of  their  properties.  Out  of  this  net  in¬ 
come  they  must  meet  interest  on  debt,  pay  divi¬ 
dends  to  the  stockholders  and  build  up  a  surplus 
as  required  by  prudent  business  management. 
The  railroads  earned  3.31%  in  1921,  and  4.14% 
in  1922.  This  year  they  hope  to  do  better.  They 
must  do  better  if  necessary  new  capital  is  to  be 
attracted  to  railroad  development. 
It  was  only  during  the  period  of  Government 
operation  that  railroad  net  income  was  guaranteed. 
That  income  was  based  on  pre-war  earnings,  and 
averaged  534%  on  the  value  of  railroad  property. 
If  any  railroad  fails  to  earn  534%  on  its  invest¬ 
ment,  the  Government  doesn’t  make  up  the 
difference;  and  the  law  provides  that  anything 
earned  above  6%  must  be  equally  divided  with 
the  Government. 
As  stated  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com¬ 
mission  in  a  recent  decision,  the  rate  provision 
of  the  Transportation  Act  “carries  with  it  no 
guarantee”,  but  “it  is,  instead,  a  limitation”. 
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