When Capt. Davis came home to Kosciusko following his service in the Civil War, he traveled through the Carolinas and in one of the states he picked an apple, brought the seeds home and planted them on the family farm located approximately eight miles north of Kosciusko.
Last Saturday at the Natchez Trace Festival, Larry Stephenson of Carrollton sold trees that were propagated and grafted from the original tree grown in Kosciusko. He is the owner of Southern Cultured Orchards and Nursery which follows the theme “Yesterday’s fruits grown today for tomorrow’s generations.”
Stephenson, who identifies himself as a fruit explorer, said his apple story is mostly a product of his imagination added to the information given to him by friends.
“This is actually the culmination of several years of work. I found out about the Davis apple, searched until I found a collector who had some, obtained scionwood and grew trees,” he said.
Stephenson said he evaluated the fruit to make sure it was worthy of being propogated and grafted trees specifically for sale at the Natchez Trace Festival.
As a fruit explorer, Stephenson said he is among a group who rediscover heirloom varieties of fruit. In addition to the Davis Apple, his collection includes a Cauley apple from Grenada, a Johnson’s Keeper from Jackson, a Floyd Richmond from Carthage, a Sebren from Lena and several from around Fulton. He also sold other fruit trees at the festival.
He is a member of Southern Fruit Fellowship and North American Fruit Explorers.
In telling of his role as a fruit explorer, one might assume this is a fulltime endeavor, but not so. In addition to his growing hobby and sideline business, he works fulltime at Heat Craft, a Grenada industry.
