P. F. JOHNSON, Oberlin, Decatur county: Have lived in Kansas seven years; Have 200 apple trees, four to eight years old, and seven to fifteen feet high. For commercial purposes I prefer Ben Davis. For family use, Red June, Winesap, Grimes"s Golden Pippin, Jonathan, and Ben Davis. I prefer bottom land, with deep, black loam and clay subsoil, north slope. I plant two-year-old trees, in rows north and south, as close as the different varieties will allow. I cultivate as long as the trees live, with plow and cultivator, allowing them to go no deeper than three inches. I plant the young orchard to beans, pumpkins, and squashes; the same in a bearing orchard, and never cease cropping.
Windbreaks are essential. I would make them of Russian mulberry and ash, and keep them cultivated. I tie dry corn-stalks around young trees to protect from rabbits. Never prune. Never thin. I use stable litter as a fertilizer and mulch; I think it advisable in this lat.i.tude. I pasture my orchard in fall and winter with hogs, and think it advisable. My trees are troubled with roundhead borer, twig-borer, and gra.s.shoppers. I do not spray. Have never irrigated, but intend to soon. Prices have been from $1 to $1.50 per bushel.
W. B. STOCKARD, Beloit, Mitch.e.l.l county: I have lived in the state since 1871. Have an apple orchard of 800 trees. For all purposes I prefer Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Jonathan, and Jefferis. Have tried and discarded Ben Davis and Limber Twig. I prefer bottom land with a clay subsoil; southeast slope. I prefer two-year-old trees, planted twenty-four feet apart, then thin them out when they crowd. I cultivate my orchard to corn and potatoes, using a cultivator and drop harrow, and cease cropping when about six years old; plant nothing in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are not essential. To protect the trees from rabbits I rub with rabbits" blood, and whitewash for borers. I prune very little; remove dead limbs, and clip the others; think it beneficial if not too severe. I do not thin my fruit while on the trees; it does not pay. It is not necessary to set trees in mixed plantings when you keep bees. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter; think corn-stalks best, it has proven beneficial; would advise its use on all soils. Do not pasture my orchard; is not advisable; does not pay. My trees are troubled with tent-caterpillar, bud moth, root aphis, bag-worm, roundhead borer, woolly aphis, twig-borer, oyster-sh.e.l.l bark-louse, and my apples with curculio. I spray just before the bud swells, and after they bloom, with white a.r.s.enic; sal soda and lime for canker-worms and moths; think I have reduced the codling-moth. I hand-pick my apples; sort into two cla.s.ses. Sell in the orchard, wholesale, retail, and peddle; keep the best apples at home; make vinegar of the second and third grades, and culls. Never tried distant markets. Find a ready market for dried apples; but it does not pay. I store apples for winter use in a circular arched cave, in barrels; find Winesap and Missouri Pippin keep best. I do not irrigate. Price has been fifty cents per bushel.
P. WAGNER, Dresden, Decatur county: I have lived in the state twelve years. Have an apple orchard of fifty trees, planted last spring. I prefer hilltop, with an east or north aspect. I cultivate my orchard with a cultivator and harrow, growing no crop. Would make windbreaks of locust trees. For rabbits I use barrel staves. I do not prune, or thin the fruit while on the trees. My trees are in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter, and think it beneficial, and would advise its use on all soils. I do not pasture my orchard; do not think it advisable; it does not pay. I do not spray. I water my orchard.
Apples have been one dollar per bushel; dried apples, five cents per pound.
JOHN ELDER, Glen Elder, Mitch.e.l.l county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-seven years; have an apple orchard of 280 trees, from twelve to twenty-six years planted. For family orchard I prefer Cooper"s Early White, Early Harvest, Chenango Strawberry, Maiden"s Blush, Missouri Pippin, and Ben Davis. Have tried and discarded Willow Twig, Lowell, and White Winter Pearmain, on account of blight and sun-scald. I prefer hill land, with black loam soil and clay subsoil; a northeast slope. I prefer two-year-old trees, planted in dead furrows. I cultivate my orchard to corn for a number of years, using a lister, while the trees are young, and a disc when they get older. I cease cropping after six or eight years, and plant nothing in a bearing orchard. When windbreaks are close enough to do good they sap the ground too much. I wrap the trees to protect them from rabbits, and keep them growing and healthy, for borers. I prune my trees, and think it beneficial. I do not thin the fruit on the trees. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter, and think it keeps a tree healthy and growing, which will protect it from borers and other insects. Do not pasture my orchard; do not think it advisable.
My apples are troubled with curculio and gouger. I have sprayed after the blossom fell, with Paris green, London purple, and blue vitriol; don"t know that I reduced the codling-moth any. For insects not affected by spraying I bored a one-half inch hole in the trees this spring and filled it with sulphur; then plugged it up. [?????] I sell apples in the orchard; also retail. I do not dry any. Prices have been from twenty-five cents to one dollar per bushel.
C. A. PERDUE, Beloit, Mitch.e.l.l county: Have lived in Kansas eighteen years. Have an apple orchard of about 250 trees. I prefer the Missouri Pippin for commercial purposes. I prefer a black loam soil with a clay subsoil; north slope. In planting trees, I would set them thirty feet apart; mine are twenty feet and are too close. I have cultivated my orchard, but think I did not do it right. A light culture to keep the soil loose on top, to act as a mulch, would, I think, be beneficial.
Think it best to grow no crop in the orchard. I think windbreaks would be beneficial. For rabbits I use woven wire. I prune to lessen the tops; I think it ought to be done every year, so as never to cut any large limbs; I think it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees, but think it would be an advantage. I have put stable litter in my orchard two or three times during the last fifteen years, but do not think it necessary; the land is rich enough without; would not advise its use on all soils. I do not pasture my orchard; it is not advisable; it does not pay. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, bud moth, and flathead borer. I do not spray. Always sell in the local market. I do not dry any. I store some for winter use, in a cellar in boxes, barrels, and bins. We have to repack stored apples before marketing.
Prices for winter apples have been from fifty to seventy-five cents.
CHAS. VAIL, Colby, Thomas county: I have lived in Kansas twelve years; have an apple orchard of 150 trees seven years old, from seven to eleven feet. I plant my orchard to corn and potatoes for two or three years, then nothing; use a common cultivator. Windbreaks are not essential. For rabbits I use tar paper. I prune very little, and rub off young sprouts.
Can see no difference whether trees are in blocks of a kind or mixed plantings. I do not fertilize my orchard; it is very injurious here. I do not pasture my orchard. My trees are troubled with tobacco worms [?]
and gra.s.shoppers. I do not spray. Do not irrigate.
HUDSON BROS., Kanopolis, Ellsworth county: Have lived in Kansas thirty-four years; have an apple orchard of fifty trees, six to thirty years old, from four to eighteen inches in diameter. For commercial purposes I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Winesap, and for family use would add d.u.c.h.ess of Oldenburg. I prefer sandy bottom land. I plant three-year-old trees thirty feet apart each way, in well-plowed land. I cultivate my orchard to corn or potatoes till the trees are ten years old; sow rye in bearing orchard; mow in June, and then plow; never have ceased cropping. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of forest-trees planted in a belt around the orchard. I fertilize my orchard with barn-yard litter; think it beneficial; would advise its use to a certain extent on all soils. I pasture my orchard with hogs, and think it advisable. My trees are troubled with flathead borers. I do not spray.
E. W. O"TOOLE, Collyer, Trego county: I have resided in Kansas nineteen years. Have an apple orchard of sixty-four trees, twenty-two of which are fourteen years old, and thirty-seven inches in circ.u.mference. For commercial orchard I prefer Ben Davis, and for family Early Harvest and Winesap. I prefer black loam with sandy bottom, south slope. I plant two-year-old trees, in rows eighteen feet apart. I do not cultivate my orchard, but mulch it with hay for four years. Windbreaks are essential here; would make them of cottonwood trees, planted in rows around the orchard. For protection against rabbits I use whitewash and tar paper. I prune to thin the tops; think it beneficial. The wind thins my apples for me. I fertilize my orchard with hay; think it beneficial, and would advise its use on all soils. Do not pasture my orchard. I shall spray this year after the bloom falls with London purple and lime water. I peddle my apples. This is the best market, because they are scarce. I am successful in keeping a few bushels in a pit; the Missouri Pippin keeps best. I do not irrigate. I am located on bottom land. Price has been one dollar per bushel.
M. A. WILSON, Atwood, Rawlins county: I have resided in the state nineteen years; have an apple orchard of fifty trees ten years old, six inches in diameter. For all purposes I prefer Winesap and Ben Davis. I prefer bottom land with a dark loam and a clay subsoil, with a northern slope. I prefer two-year-old trees with good tops and stocky bodies, set in early spring, sixteen to twenty feet apart. I plant my orchard to corn, potatoes, and garden-truck, using a hoe and cultivator; have never ceased cropping. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of Russian mulberries planted twelve feet apart each way; trim and cultivate them.
For rabbits I wrap the trees with rags or burlap cut in strips three or four inches wide; begin at the bottom and wind up; if the limbs are near the ground, wrap them, too. I prune with a small keyhole saw and shears to keep the tree hardy, and think it pays. I thin my apples when they are about half grown; it pays. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter; it has been beneficial, and would advise its use on all soils.
Do not pasture my orchard. Trees are troubled with tent-caterpillar and flathead borer. I do not spray. I stand on a step-ladder and pick my apples, laying them in the baskets as carefully as though they were eggs. I sort into two cla.s.ses--best, and second grade. I sell apples in the orchard; retail the best, second and third grades; use and sell the culls. Home is my best market. I do not dry or store any for winter market. I irrigate, lifting the water twenty feet by an elevator and horse power from creek. Prices have been from $1 to $1.60 per bushel.
Dried apples, sixteen pounds for one dollar. I employ hands at from fifteen dollars to eighteen dollars per month.
F. T. M. DUTCHER, Phillipsburg, Phillips county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-six years; have an apple orchard of 100 trees from eight to ten years old. For market I prefer Missouri Pippin, Ben Davis, and Winesap, and for family orchard Ben Davis and Winesap. I prefer a bottom which has a sandy soil and a clay subsoil, with a northeast slope. I set two-year-old trees in listed ditches. I plant my orchard to potatoes as long as possible; use a five-tooth cultivator; cease cropping when the trees shade the ground, and plant nothing in a bearing orchard.
Windbreaks are not essential. For rabbits I tie corn-stalks around the tree, leaving them on the year round. I prune my trees with a knife; think it beneficial, and that it pays. I thin apples, if necessary, as soon as established. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter, and would advise its use on all soils. I never pasture my orchard; do not think it advisable. My trees are troubled with borers, and my apples with curculio. I do not spray. I dig borers out. I make only one grade of my apples, and feed the culls to pigs, and use all the rest at home.
I do not dry any. I irrigate a little; have a pond around the trees.
D. E. STEVENS, Norton, Norton county: I have resided in the State eighteen years. Have an apple orchard of 100 trees from ten to fifteen years old, three to six inches in diameter. My orchard should be composed of Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Pewaukee, Jonathan, Willow Twig, Maiden"s Blush, Snow and two kinds of Russets (and I haven"t a Russet in the orchard!!), Early Harvest, one or two sweets (and I haven"t a sweet in the orchard!), which proves to me that an agent will sell you any variety you want, and ship what they happen to have. I prefer bottom land with a loamy soil and a clay subsoil, with a northern slope. I prefer three-year-old, low-top trees, cut back, set in a furrow made with a lister and dug out with a spade. I plant my orchard to corn, using a stirring plow and harrow, and am still cultivating; would plant corn or clover in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of Russian mulberries. For rabbits I wrap with fine meshed wire. I prune my trees with a saw and knife to give sunlight, and make larger fruit; think it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees.
My trees are in mixed plantings. I mulch my orchard late in the fall with coa.r.s.e manure; would advise it on all soils, unless very rich. Feed your soil if you would have thrifty trees. I pasture my orchard with hogs; I think it advisable, and that it pays because they keep the soil loose. Trees are troubled with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, and borers; and my apples with worms. I do not spray, but ought to. I hand-pick my apples. I dry some for family use. I do not irrigate, but am confident we need more water.
JESSE ROYER, Gove, Gove county: Have lived in Kansas thirteen years. I have four apple trees seven years old. I prefer upland with an eastern or northeast slope. For planting, I prefer good two-year-old trees. I cultivate my orchard all the time; would plant corn, and cultivate with any tool that would do good work and kill the weeds; would not plant any crop in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of any kind of forest-trees excepting walnut; plant two or three rows of them all around the orchard. I prune some to give shape to trees and take out all dead branches, and think it pays. I think a good rich [?]
mulching would be beneficial, and would advise its use on all soils. Do not pasture my orchard. I would spray if it was necessary; insects are not very bad here. I do not dry any.
FRUIT DISTRICT No. 3.
Following is the third fruit district, comprised of thirty-one counties in the southwest quarter of the state. Reports, or rather experiences, from each of these counties will be found immediately following. We give below the number of apple trees in the third district, compiled from the statistics of 1897. Many thousands were added in the spring of 1898.
_Bearing._ _Not bearing._ _Total._ Barber 12,901 16,384 29,285 Barton 25,146 24,196 49,342 Clark 735 1,942 2,677 Comanche 1,010 1,512 2,522 Edwards 3,378 6,672 10,050 Finney 6,139 10,559 16,698 Ford 2,281 4,178 6,459 Grant 852 300 1,152 Gray 410 2,715 3,125 Greeley 10 402 412 Hamilton 741 2,242 2,983 Harper 36,296 20,508 56,804 Haskell 328 141 469 Hodgeman 415 675 1,090 Kearny 4,405 7,312 11,717 Kingman 39,249 23,416 62,765 Kiowa 1,683 2,212 3,895 Lane 1,647 2,524 4,171 Meade 1,340 2,200 3,540 Ness 1,188 1,630 2,818 p.a.w.nee 11,137 7,800 18,937 Pratt 12,894 12,963 25,857 Reno 141,460 280,713 422,173 Rice 65,069 45,133 110,202 Rush 2,118 2,629 4,747 Scott 229 1,936 2,165 Seward 432 602 1,034 Stafford 22,914 27,377 50,291 Stanton 10 150 160 Stevens 897 1,651 2,548 Wichita 90 959 1,049 ------- ------- ------- Total in district 397,304 513,633 910,937 Estimated acreage 60,000 100,000 160,000
D. J. McNEAL, Scott, Scott county: I have lived in Kansas ten years; have an apple orchard of sixty-five trees five years old, seven feet high. I prefer a clay soil with a north aspect. I plant two-year-old trees in ground that has been plowed for two years before planting. I cultivate my orchard with a disc harrow and cultivator, and plant nothing. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of cottonwoods. I rub rabbits" blood on the trees to protect them from other rabbits. I prune my trees with a knife and a fine saw; I think it beneficial. I have fertilized my orchard with stable litter, but it causes a too rapid growth; I would not advise its use on all soils. I do not pasture my orchard; it is not advisable; it does not pay. I am not troubled with insects, and do not spray. I do not irrigate, but think it would pay.
G. O. VICK, Fowler, Meade county: Have lived in Kansas fourteen years. I planted an apple orchard twelve years ago; have about fifty Missouri Pippins, that have not failed to give us a crop for seven or eight years; last fall we got three bushels from a single tree--the most ever taken from one tree by us. They are fine keepers, and are said to be much better, both in color and flavor, than those grown farther east. We have kept them in fine condition until July following, and then the supply gave out. Have no trees where they can be irrigated, but hope to put out an orchard next spring that can be irrigated. I have the finest location [for irrigation] in the West, and will do my best. I prefer valley land, with a southeast slope. Prices have been two dollars per bushel.
C. A. BLACKMORE, Sharon, Barber county: I have lived in the state about five years; have an orchard of 1100 apple trees, three years old, two inches in diameter, seven feet high. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Early Harvest, Benoni, and Maiden"s Blush.
When planting a family orchard select varieties from the earliest to the latest, that they may be well supplied. In planting a commercial orchard I would study the wants and demands of the people, also the varieties best adapted to our soil and climate. Do not be like an experiment station and plant all varieties catalogued. A mongrel orchard, like mongrel stock, is not good property. The man who has a hundred bushels of some one good variety of apples can always get the best price for them; but if the hundred bushels consisted of ten or a dozen varieties there would not be enough of any one variety to attract a buyer, and consequently he must take what he can get for them. Select such varieties as the market demands, and then confine your planting to as few varieties as possible, and your commercial orchard will attract buyers. I prefer a bottom, with a dark, sandy or red land, with a reddish clay subsoil, north or northeast slope. I plant thrifty two-year-old trees, in ground plowed deeply and marked off with a lister sixteen by thirty feet; then set the trees four to six inches deeper than they stood in the nursery, in holes dug at the crossings. I haul my trees to the field in a barrel two-thirds full of water, take them out one at a time and trim all the broken and long roots, arranging them in natural positions and turning the ends down in the hole, leaning the tree toward the two P. M. sun; then I fill the hole, using a rammer while a boy shovels the dirt in. If the soil is dry pour two or three gallons of water on the roots. When the water has soaked away finish filling the hole, and tramp the soil lightly around the tree. When they are all set, cut them well back.
I cultivate my orchard from early spring to the 1st of September, using a plow, cultivator, and disc; I plant corn in a young orchard, and cease cropping after eight years, and plant nothing in a bearing orchard.
Windbreaks are essential on the south and west, and I would make them of Russian mulberries. For rabbits I rub rabbits" blood on the trees twice during the winter. Borers I cut out the first year; after that I drown them out by cultivation. I prune my trees while they are small, to give shape. I think it pays, as you do not have to cut off large branches when grown. Do not have to thin fruit here in Kansas. I do not plant a solid block of any one kind of trees; I intermingle the varieties in alternate rows, and insure more perfect pollination. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter; it pays especially well on sandy soil, and I would advise its use on all soils. Don"t expect your trees to produce something for nothing; feed them. I do not pasture my orchard; it is not advisable, and does not pay. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, bud moth, root aphis, bag-worm, flathead borer, roundhead borer, woolly aphis, twig-borer, and oyster-sh.e.l.l bark-louse, and my apples with codling-moth. I do not spray. Hunt the insect eggs and nests in your trees, and destroy the source of much loss to your fruit this season. In picking, I use a ladder to reach the apples in the top of the trees; put them in a grain sack over my shoulder with a stick in the mouth; have gathered sixty bushels per day for weeks at a time in this way. Prices have been from one dollar to two dollars per bushel, and dried apples five to eight cents per pound.
A. D. EINSEL, Greensburg, Kiowa county: I have lived in the state twelve years. I plant thrifty one-year-old trees, in holes large enough to receive the roots, cover the roots with earth, and then pour in a pail of water. When this is soaked away fill the hole nearly full of earth. I cultivated my orchard to corn, using a spring-tooth harrow, to keep the soil loose and kill the weeds. Am going to plant another apple orchard.
I think western Kansas will yet grow apples.
A. N. PATTERSON, Ford, Ford county: I have lived in Kansas seventeen years. Have an apple orchard of 100 trees five years old. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter. Do not pasture my orchard; do not think it advisable. I do not irrigate.
JOHN HINDS, Olcott, Reno county: I have resided in the state thirteen years. Have an apple orchard of 500 trees; 375 of them are three years old, and the balance eight years old. For commercial orchard I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Rawle"s Janet, and Grimes"s Golden Pippin; and for family orchard Early Harvest and Maiden"s Blush. I have tried and discarded Greening, Baldwin, and Missouri Keeper. I prefer a sandy bottom with a clay subsoil, and eastern aspect. I prefer three-year-old trees, set in the spring. I prune the roots and tops when setting. I plant my orchard to corn or potatoes for six or eight years; plow shallow; cease cropping after eight years, and plant nothing but clover and orchard-gra.s.s in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of mulberries planted one or two feet apart all around the orchard. For rabbits I make a varnish and apply to the trees in the fall. I prune my trees in June when they are large, so as to let in light and sun; I use a tree pruner; think it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. My trees are in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter, but do not put it close to the trees; I think it beneficial, and would advise its use on all soils. I pasture my orchard with hogs; I think it pays. My trees are troubled with fall web-worm and leaf-roller. I do not spray. I pick my apples by hand; sort into three cla.s.ses from piles. Pack them in barrels and haul to market on wagon. I sell apples in the orchard at retail. Make vinegar of the culls. I store some apples for home use. Price has been one dollar per bushel.