Ben Davis (apple)
Encyclopedia
Overview
During the 19th century it was a popular commercial apple due to the ruggedness and keeping qualities of the fruit, but as packing and transportation techniques improved the variety fell out of favour, replaced by varieties considered to have better flavour. It was known to fruit growers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a "mortgage lifter" because it was a reliable producer and the fruit would not drop from the trees until very late in the season. By mid-twentieth century it was mostly used as a process apple rather than a table apple, and orchards were being pushed out for more popular varieties.The variety is now very rare to nonexistent in the commercial trade. The Ben Davis is still grown in Oak Glen, California and at Sweetser's Apple Barrel in Cumberland, Maine
Cumberland, Maine
Cumberland is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 7,211 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...
.
The Ben Davis was crossbred with the McIntosh to create the Cortland
Cortland (apple)
Cortland is a cultivar of apple.After the many attributes of McIntosh were discovered, plant breeders began crossing it with other varieties to enhance its traits. One of the earliest was the Cortland, combined with the Ben Davis variety...
, which has been a very successful pie apple.
A superficially similar variety known as "Gano" or "Black Ben Davis" appeared in parts of the American South (notably Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
) in the 1880s. Its exact relation to the original Ben Davis is unknown.