GEO. HILDRETH, Altamont, Labette county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-nine years; have an orchard of 1225 trees, from ten to twenty-seven years old. For commercial orchard prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin and Jonathan for winter, and Early Harvest and Red June for summer; for family use I prefer Early Harvest, Maiden"s Blush, Rambo, Missouri Pippin, and Jonathan. Have tried and discarded Golden Russet and many others. I prefer a porous or well-drained soil, north by northeast slope; it is too hot in bottom, and too dry on hilltop. I plant two-year-old trees in rows running north and south, trees twelve to sixteen feet apart in the row; have grown very few seedlings. I cultivate with corn while young, and rye or wheat and keep it pastured down when bearing. I plow between rows once in fore part of July. I have a tall hedge for windbreak. I prune to keep the top balanced, and do not allow it to get too thick; I think it has been beneficial. Have never thinned apples on the trees. My trees are in mixed plantings, the varieties are Missouri Pippin, Ben Davis, and others. I fertilize sometimes, I think it beneficial and would advise it on poor land. I pasture my orchard with hogs and sheep, and think it advisable; it pays.
Have some insects but not in great quant.i.ty. I spray with London purple after the bloom falls off--one pound of London purple in from 50 to 100 gallons of water. Think I have reduced the number of codling-moth. In picking I use a sack swung over the shoulder, and a light ladder. I cla.s.sify to suit the purchaser, doing the sorting in a cool place and usually packing the best in barrels, and sell at wholesale, often in the orchard; feed the culls to hogs; never tried distant markets. I sometimes store for winter market in barrels and keep in cave surrounded with hay; am not always successful. I find those that keep best are Little Romanite, Rawle"s Janet, Ben Davis, and Missouri Pippin; never tried artificial cold-storage. Seldom have to repack stored apples before marketing; lose about one-fourth. The prevailing price this year has been fifty to seventy-five cents per bushel.
A. S. DENNISON, Columbus, Cherokee county: Have lived in Kansas thirty-one years; have an apple orchard of 200 trees, fourteen years old. I prefer for commercial purpose Ben Davis, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin; and for family use Red June and Early Harvest. I prefer bottom land, with black loam, gravel subsoil, and northeast slope. I prefer one-year-old trees, set sixteen feet at first; thin to thirty-two feet.
I cultivate my young orchard with potatoes and strawberries for ten years, then sow to clover, plowing again in two years; I never cease cropping; cultivate with plow, disc, and harrow. I wrap the trees for rabbits. I prune with a saw and knife, and think it beneficial. I never thin apples. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter, but would not advise it on all soils. I pasture my orchard with hogs and calves, and think it advisable, and that it pays. My trees are troubled with tent-caterpillar, and my apples with codling-moth. I spray for codling-moth with London purple and Paris green immediately after the blossoms fall, and again in ten days. I think I have reduced the codling-moth. I dig borers out. I pick my apples from a ladder in a basket. I sort into three cla.s.ses--sound, medium, and small and unsound.
I pack in barrels carefully, and haul to shipping point in spring wagon.
I sell in orchard; also wholesale, retail, and peddle; market most of them at home; make vinegar of the culls. My best market is home. Never dry any. I store some for winter in barrels in cellar; am not always successful; Ben Davis keeps best. I have to repack stored apples before marketing, and lose about ten per cent. Do not irrigate. Prices have been from twenty-five cents to one dollar per bushel. I employ men at one dollar per day.
D. C. SEIBERT, Columbus, Cherokee county: Has been in Kansas twenty-two years, and has an orchard from five to twenty years old. For commercial purposes he prefers Ben Davis and Limber Twig, and for the family adds Maiden"s Blush. Prefers dark soil with a low southern slope, if not wet.
Prefers two-year-old trees set about thirty feet apart. Cultivates with a disc harrow until four or five years old. Grows corn for five or six years. Thinks windbreaks essential; would make them of Osage orange all around the orchard. Prunes his trees, and thinks it beneficial, and that it pays. Does not thin apples on the trees; says the wind does that for him. Fertilizes his trees while young with stable litter, and would advise it on all soils. Pastures his orchard with calves and hogs, and thinks it advisable, and that with the hogs it pays. His trees are troubled with bark-louse and leaf-roller, and his apples with codling-moth. He sprays his trees with London purple, and thinks he has reduced the codling-moth; for borers, and other insects not affected by spraying, he throws salt over the roots of the trees. Picks his apples by hand. Wholesales, retails and peddles them. His best markets are in his county; has never tried distant markets. Does not dry any. Is successful in storing apples in bulk in a cave for winter markets, the Limber Twig and Rawle"s Janet keeping best; has never tried artificial cold storage. Does not irrigate. Prices have been from forty to sixty-five cents per bushel.
JOHNSON KELLER, Arkansas City, Cowley county: Have lived in Kansas for twenty-one years. Have 2000 apple trees fourteen years old. I grow for market Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Smith"s Cider. For family orchard I prefer Early Harvest, Maiden"s Blush, Cooper"s Early White, Ben Davis, and Missouri Pippin. I have discarded Gennetting, Winesap, Rambo, Red Astrachan, and many others that were worthless in this locality. I prefer second bottom, dark sandy loam, with north and east aspect. I plant two-year-old trees thirty feet apart, in holes four feet square, dug one foot too deep, and filled up with surface soil. I cultivate thoroughly as long as the orchard lives, with stirring plow and disc, and crop with corn as long as it will even make fodder, or until the trees shade the ground too much to raise anything. For small orchards I would recommend a windbreak of Osage orange set far enough apart on the south to grow in the shape of trees. For rabbits I use nothing but corn-stalks tied around the trees. I prune in moderation to keep the trees low; much pruning will kill trees in this locality. I thin apples some on the trees, at any time after they are the size of hickory-nuts.
I find the best pollinators are a good apiary of bees. I believe in using plenty of stable litter well mixed with potash, but in moderation near the trees. Nothing except hogs should be allowed in an orchard.
They destroy nearly all the insects. I spray for canker-worm as soon as they begin to hatch, and believe I reduced the codling-moth fifty per cent. last spring. For borers I wash the bodies of the trees early in spring and twice in May with soft soap and lime. For picking I use a long-handled device of my own invention, and sort into two cla.s.ses: No.
1, best and largest; No. 2, medium. One week after they are put in the packing-house we pack in barrels, with hay or straw between the layers.
We market our best apples and sell our second and third grades at home, and make all culls into cider and vinegar. Have tried distant markets, but did not generally pay. Never dried any. We store for winter in a fruit house and cave, in barrels, and are successful. Our best keepers have been Missouri Pippin and Winesap. Our loss on winter apples runs from three to five per cent. Prices in the fall, twenty-five to forty cents; in winter, 75 cents to $1.25 per bushel. For help we use common laborers at from seventy-five cents to one dollar per day.
WM. N. SMITH, Brownsville, Chautauqua county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-eight years. I have an apple orchard of fifty trees twenty years old and twelve inches in diameter. For commercial purposes I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Winesap, and for family orchard I would add Maiden"s Blush and Bellflower. I prefer bottom land, black, sandy loam, with a clay bottom and a north slope. I plant my trees thirty-six feet each way. I plant my orchard to corn and potatoes, using a disc, and plant tame gra.s.s in a bearing orchard, and cease cropping when they begin to bear. Windbreaks are essential. I would make them of Osage orange, and would surround the orchard with a fence of the same. I prune to keep the limbs from rubbing, and I think it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. My trees are in mixed plantings. I do not fertilize my orchard; am on bottom land, which does not need it, but think it would be beneficial on some soils. I pasture my orchard with hogs, but do not think it advisable; it does not pay. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, flathead borer, roundhead borer, twig-borer, and leaf-roller. I spray with Paris green and London purple when the worms are at work on the leaves. I dig borers out. I hand-pick my apples in baskets from ladders, and sort into two cla.s.ses--large and perfect in number one, small and perfect in number two; the balance for cider. I pack in barrels filled full, and mark with the grade; then haul to market in a wagon. I make the culls into cider.
Coffeyville is my best market. I dry some and find a ready market for them; it pays. I am successful in storing apples in bulk in a cellar, and find Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin and Winesap keep best. Prices have been about fifty cents per bushel; dried apples, five cents per pound.
C. E. HILDRETH, secretary Altamont Horticultural Society, Altamont, Labette county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-seven years. I have an apple orchard of 15,000 trees eight years old, five inches in diameter, and prefer Ben Davis, Jonathan and Missouri Pippin for market; and for family use Early Harvest, Red June, Jonathan, Maiden"s Blush, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin. I prefer gray or red soil, porous subsoil, with an eastern slope. I set first-cla.s.s, two-year-old, well-branched trees, in large furrows, deeply plowed out, twenty feet north and south, and thirty-two feet east and west. For six years I grow corn in the orchard, cultivating well; after that nothing. I plow shallow, and disc or harrow until midsummer as often as the weeds start. I cultivate as long as the trees live. To protect from rabbits I use sixteen-inch lath woven with four strands of wire. I prune, to allow only three or four main branches. I believe in fertilizer, and would use it if I had it. I think pasturing in the orchard advisable, with young cattle or hogs, and that it pays. Am troubled some with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, and codling-moth; for these I spray with London purple, using a tank, with a pump run by a sprocket and chain, from a wagon wheel. I believe I have reduced the codling-moth by spraying. We pick in a sack over the shoulder, as used in sowing oats. I sort only into first cla.s.s and culls, as emptied by the pickers on canvas-covered tables. I use eleven-peck barrels, marking the name of variety and quality. Sell only at wholesale, making cider of the culls. Have shipped to distant markets, but it did not pay. Have never dried any, but think I ought to.
J. S. HACKNEY, Walton, Harvey county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-seven years. Have an orchard of 325 apple trees twenty-four years old, eight to sixteen inches in diameter. For commercial orchard I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, Snow, Maiden"s Blush, Huntsman"s Favorite, and Grimes"s Golden Pippin, and would plant the same for family orchard. Have tried and discarded Winter Strawberry and Paradise Pippin for shy bearing. I prefer high land, rich subsoil, with north slope. I prefer two-year-old grafts, the more fibrous roots the better. I checked my land to corn and then dug out the hill of corn where tree was to stand. I raise my own root grafts. I cultivate my young orchard with corn, wheat, and oats, using disc and smoothing harrow. I plant a bearing orchard to clover, and cease cropping when the limbs interfere with work. I think windbreaks are essential, and would make them of rapid-growing forest-trees. To protect the trees from rabbits, I wash them with blood and liver and tie up. I prune while young to shape and balance the top, and think it beneficial. I never thin apples. I fertilize with barn-yard litter and wood ashes. I pasture my orchard with hogs and young cattle; think it advisable, and that it pays.
My trees are troubled with tent-caterpillar; my fruit with codling-moth, curculio, and gouger. I spray for the above-named insects after the blossom has fallen and until apples are as large as quail eggs. I think I have reduced the codling-moth. For the insects not affected by spraying I wash with soap and strong lye. I spray with London purple, Paris green, and kerosene emulsion. We pick apples by hand and are careful not to bruise them. I sort into two cla.s.ses; the small and defective go to the chickens. I generally retail my apples toward spring; sell second and third grades wherever I can; make cider of culls. My best markets are home and Newton. Do not dry any for market. I store 300 or 400 bushels of apples in a cellar 3232 feet, cemented sides and bottom, with plenty of windows and doors for ventilation; am fairly successful; Ben Davis and Winesap keep best. I have to repack them before marketing. I do not irrigate. Prices have been 40 cents to $1.75 per bushel. I employ ordinary farm hands at $200 per year.
P. C. BROWN, Cherryvale, Montgomery county: I have lived in Kansas eighteen years; have an apple orchard of 600 trees from six to twenty-four years old. For commercial orchard I prefer Ben Davis and Jonathan, and for family orchard would add Maiden"s Blush, Lowell, and Grimes"s Golden Pippin. Have tried and discarded Missouri Pippin, Lawver, and Roxbury Russet. I prefer a first or second bottom, with a northern or western aspect, sandy loam with gravelly subsoil. I prefer two-year-old, well-headed trees, set thirty by thirty. I have some set thirty by fifteen feet, but intend to grub every other one out when large. I plant my orchard to corn or potatoes, cultivating two or four times a year until they begin to bear, using a stirring plow, Acme harrow, and Planet jr. horse cultivator. Never cease cropping, but pasture with hogs. Sow gra.s.s and clover in a bearing orchard. Do not cut and take crop off more than twice after they begin to bear. Windbreaks are not essential, but if they were I should make them of any kind of trees or hedges, by planting on south and west sides. For rabbits I inclose the tree with wire screening. I dig the borers out. I prune trees while young, until they begin to bear, by cutting out the cross branches and watersprouts. This will promote wood growth, if done in early spring. It is generally beneficial. I have thinned the fruit sometimes, but it does not pay. Can"t see any difference whether trees are in blocks of one variety or in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard with lime and ashes in limited quant.i.ties. It is beneficial only on loose, loamy soil; would not advise its use on heavy clay soils. I pasture my orchard after it comes into full bearing with swine and poultry. I think it advisable and that it pays, if too many are not put in.
My trees are troubled with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, root aphis, twig-borer, fall web-worm, and leaf-roller. I spray just after the leaves start and three times afterwards, a week or ten days apart, using London purple and lime water for the foliage and fruit-eating insects; think I have reduced the codling-moth materially. I spray early for canker-worm, and just after the blossoms drop for codling-moth and curculio. I hand-pick my apples from a step-ladder, in a sack hung over the shoulder; sort into three cla.s.ses--first, smooth and not specked; second, rough and specked; third, partly rotten, for vinegar. I sort into baskets from a table which has a rim around the edge. I pack my first-grade apples in barrels pressed full, then headed, marked with a stencil, and hauled to market on a wagon. I wholesale my best apples to home buyers, and also fill orders from a distance; sell my second- and third-grade apples to home buyers, and make into sweet cider; make vinegar of culls and feed them to hogs. My best market is at home; have tried distant markets; did not pay. Do not dry any. Am fairly successful in storing apples in barrels, boxes and shallow bins in a cellar; find Rawle"s Janet, Ben Davis and Jonathan keep best. Weather is too warm in the fall in this lat.i.tude to keep apples successfully. I have to repack stored apples two or three times, losing from one-third to three-fourths of them; it varies with the season and time of picking. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from twenty-five cents to one dollar per bushel. I employ the best help there is to be had, at from 75 cents to $1.25 per day.
JOHN HART, Sedan, Chautauqua county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-seven years, and have an apple orchard of 400 trees, ten years planted. I prefer for commercial orchard Ben Davis, and for family orchard Early Harvest, Maiden"s Blush, Winesap, Ben Davis, and Arkansas Black. I prefer sandy bottom land, and plant my trees in furrows. I cultivate my orchard to corn as long as it is possible to grow anything, but plant nothing in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are beneficial. I would make them of Osage orange or wild goose plums. I prune with a saw, to thin out the centers and keep off suckers. I think it beneficial. I fertilize my orchard with barn-yard litter. I think it beneficial, and would advise its use on some lands. I do not pasture my orchard, nor would I advise it. I spray with London purple in the spring, and am successful.
I sell my apples in the orchard, and do not dry any for market.
Missouri Pippin keeps better than other stored apples.
JAMES McNICOL, Lost Springs, Marion county: Have been in Kansas twenty-seven years. Have an apple orchard of 12,000 trees, set from three to ten years. Prefer Missouri Pippins alone for commercial orchard, and Early Harvest, Maiden"s Blush, Missouri Pippin and Grimes"s Golden Pippin for family orchard. Have discarded White Winter Pearmain as not hardy. I prefer bottom land, northern slope, with rich surface soil and porous subsoil. After plowing out deep furrows, subsoil with a lister; then select well-rooted, two-year-old trees and plant carefully.
Distance apart is an important matter; if too close, the trees, no matter how well cultivated, will suffer for moisture; if too far apart, the wind will play havoc with trees and fruit. I would plant close rows running east and west, as each row would help break the wind when the trees in the row reach each other. I would plant twenty feet apart in the row, and the rows thirty feet apart, and would recommend planting a row of cherry, dwarf pear, plum or peach between the apple rows, provided they are cut out at the proper time to not allow them to rob the orchard of moisture. Cultivate often to a good old age with a disc and Acme harrow. Grow corn or Kafir-corn for five or six years, leaving a good s.p.a.ce next the trees, not for weeds, but to be well cultivated. A silly policy is to cultivate the corn that costs less than five cents per row for seed four times, and leave the tree row that costs two dollars or more uncultivated. Do not use a stirring plow; it hills up around the trees too much. If you list your corn, go east and west one year, north and south the next year. Keep the ground well cultivated; grow nothing after five or six years, not even weeds or clover.
Cultivate at right angles and diagonal. Whenever you are blessed with a good rain in summer don"t wait until the weeds start, but cultivate as soon as the ground will bear it. Keep a dust mulch on by cultivation; few know the great value of a dust mulch. For a family orchard a five-tooth cultivator near the trees, and a two-horse cultivator for the middles, will do. Use the harrow often. Six days" work at the proper time will keep a five-acre orchard in good shape through the season.
Some say this is not a fruit country. It is not and never will be to the one who has no time to cultivate; but to the careful cultivator there is great reward, for the very same reason. I believe it essential to have windbreaks, and advise planting three or more rows of honey-locust and Russian mulberry for windbreaks, on the south and west sides. For rabbits I use wooden tree wraps, also traps, guns, and dogs. I prune a little, to keep the top balanced. I use no fertilizers, and would never allow stock pastured in orchard. Am troubled with root aphis, leaf-crumpler, and codling-moth. I practice spraying with blue vitriol for codling-moth. I prevent borers by keeping the ground well cultivated.
MIKE GAMER, Strong City, Chase county: Have lived in Kansas since February 14, 1877. Have 180 apple trees from one to twenty years old.
For commercial orchard would prefer Maiden"s Blush and Ben Davis. Have tried and discarded Rambo and Pennock, because of rot. I prefer dry bottom. I prefer trees four to six feet high, planted thirty feet apart.
I cultivate in corn for ten years, and seed a bearing orchard to gra.s.s.
I think windbreaks are essential; would make them of Osage orange or trees, a row outside of the orchard. Am troubled with rabbits and borers. I prune, and think it beneficial. I pasture my orchard with pigs, and think it advisable. My trees are troubled with flathead borer, and my fruit with codling-moth. I wash the trees with soap-suds for insects. I sell my apples in the orchard; make cider of the culls. I store apples in bulk in a cellar, and find the Romanite and Missouri Pippin keep the best. Prices have been from twenty-five to sixty cents.
GEORGE SCHENCK, Le Roy, Coffey county: Have lived in Kansas eighteen years, and have 1200 apple trees from ten to thirty years old. For commercial purposes I prefer Ben Davis and Winesap. I prefer bottom land. I cultivate my orchard to corn, using a lister and other tools; I crop as long as it is possible to cultivate. Windbreaks are not essential. I think fertilization with barn-yard litter beneficial on upland orchard, but would not advise its use on rich bottom. I have pastured my old orchard with calves and hogs.
C. F. PFLAGER, Elk, Chase county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-seven years. Have 300 apple trees from one to twelve years old. For commercial orchard I prefer Ben Davis, Willow Twig, Missouri Pippin, Winesap, and Romanite; for family orchard, Maiden"s Blush, Early Harvest, Yellow Transparent, and Baldwin. I have tried and discarded Sweet Gennetting, because of rot, and when ripe it is too small for market; Caswinculet, because it sun-scalds and dries up, and Early White will not stand the climate. I prefer bottom land, with sandy soil. I prefer two-year-old trees, with low top, without forks, set four inches above the graft, at an angle of thirty degrees south. Have grown some seedlings with good success. I cultivate my orchard with potatoes and tobacco, using a plow and cultivator, until four years old; I plant nothing in a bearing orchard, and cease cropping when they commence to bear. Windbreaks are essential here, and I would make them of Osage orange and forest-trees; if Osage orange is used, plant it twenty feet from the orchard, or it will injure the fruit-trees. I wrap my trees with corn-stalks or rags to protect from rabbits, and wash the trees with lye water for borers; I also dig them out. I have pruned with clippers, and found it injurious to the trees; I only cut out watersprouts. I never thin my apples; they thin themselves. My trees are in mixed plantings and bear well.
I fertilize my orchard with barn-yard litter; I also use fertilizer from the chicken yard, and would advise its use on all soils. I never pasture my orchard; it injures the trees, and does not pay. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, flathead borer, and leaf-roller. Curculio trouble my apples. I do not spray, but my neighbors do, and are not successful. I pick my apples by hand into half-bushel baskets, and put them in a wagon, with hay in the bottom. I sort into three or four cla.s.ses, putting the red, yellow and green in separate piles. I pack my apples in sacks, and haul to market in a wagon. I often sell in the orchard; retail my best at stores, peddle the second and third grades, and make cider for vinegar of the culls. My best markets are Elmdale, Chase county, and Marion, Marion county; have never tried distant markets. We dry a few apples; use a parer, corer, and slicer; it is satisfactory; then pack them in flour sacks; but it does not pay. I store some in boxes and barrels in a cave; am successful; those that keep best are Romanite and Red Winter Pearmain.
Never have tried artificial cold storage. We have to repack stored apples before sending to market; lose about five per cent. Prices have been from fifty cents to one dollar per bushel, and dried apples five cents per pound. I employ farm hands at from ten dollars to eighteen dollars per month.
THOMAS W. SMITH, Baxter Springs, Cherokee county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-eight years. My trees were destroyed in the storm of 1895. For commercial purposes I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin.
Prefer hilltop with an east slope. I cultivate at six years; seed a bearing orchard to clover. Windbreaks are not essential. Never thinned apples. Pasture my orchard with cows and horses. Prices during winter have been forty cents per bushel.
S. H. BAILEY, Uniontown, Bourbon county: I have lived in Kansas fifteen years, and have an orchard of 150 apple trees thirty years old. I prefer Canada Pippin [Downing calls this White Pippin], Ben Davis, Rome Beauty, Jonathan, Missouri Pippin, and Maiden"s Blush, for all purposes. I prefer hillside land, with a northeastern slope. I plant apple trees thirty feet apart each way. I cultivate in potatoes, corn, or any hoed crop, using a hoe and cultivator. I sow a bearing orchard to clover, and cease cropping at ten or twelve years. Windbreaks are essential, and I would make them of Osage orange planted thirty feet from the trees. I prune a little every year, to get rid of dead limbs, and also thin out the center of trees, to improve the fruit. I use a saw and knife. My trees are in block. It is beneficial to mulch with old hay or straw in drought. I pasture my orchard with small calves, but would not advise it, as it does not pay. I sprayed with a pump, using London purple, but it did little good. I cut borers out, and then pour coal-oil in the holes. I hand-pick my apples in a sack, using a ladder. I sort into two cla.s.ses--good and second best. If for home use, I put them in rail pens for about three weeks; then sort out the good ones and make cider of the culls. I pack in three-bushel barrels, and ship to Kansas City. I sell my best apples to shippers. I dry and make cider of the second- and third-cla.s.s apples, and feed the culls to the hogs and cows. I store some for home use, and would store more if I had cold storage. We have to repack stored apples before selling, and lose about one-half of them.
I have sold Canada Pippins from fifty cents to two dollars per bushel. I employ men and boys, and pay from fifty cents to seventy-five cents per day and board.
W. T. WALTERS, Emporia, Lyon county: I have been in Kansas nearly twenty-one years. I have 700 apple trees; 200 thirty years old, 100 eleven years old, and 400 seven years old. Market varieties, Ben Davis, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and Jonathan; and for family have added Red Astrachan, Red June, Early Harvest, Maiden"s Blush, and Rambo. I prefer bottom land if not too low; I have apples when they dry up on the hill.
Prefer a rich, dark loam, with a slightly porous subsoil, and northeast slope. Use two-year-old thrifty trees, with well-balanced head. Fall plow deeply, throw two or three furrows each way, leaving a deep dead furrow, cross lightly with one furrow, and plant at the crossings. I grow corn, sweet and Irish potatoes for eight or ten years, then seed to clover. I cultivate with a one-horse plow, using a hoe around trees. In my oldest orchard I grow nothing, but use the disc freely. I believe windbreaks necessary on upland, but not in our bottom. Use corn-stalks tied around the tree for rabbits. I prevent borers by keeping the trees thrifty. I prune with knife and saw only to remove dead limbs and keep others from rubbing together, and I think it pays. I think thinning would pay, with cheap labor. Have used coa.r.s.e stable litter in my orchard; think it has paid in larger and better-colored fruit; would advise its use for bearing trees. I would pasture my orchard with calves, hogs, and sheep, if I had them; I believe if judiciously done it would pay. I spray before the buds open, after the bloom drops, and ten days later, with London purple and lime, for canker-worm and codling-moth; have kept the canker-worm in check, but have not prevented my apples from getting wormy and falling. I hand-pick in sacks and baskets; pack in tight, eleven-peck barrels; but sell most of my apples in the orchard to teamsters from the West. I sell culls to the cider and canning factories. My best market is in the orchard. Never shipped but once; not satisfactory. I store some in tight barrels in the cellar, and find Winesaps keep the best. We lose from ten to twenty-five per cent. of them; some winters they keep better than others. Never dried any, and have not irrigated. Prices from thirty to fifty cents per bushel at picking time. I use men and boys at from fifty cents to one dollar per day.
C. L. KENDRICK, Waverly, Coffey county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-five years. Have an apple orchard of 375 trees, eighteen years planted. For commercial purposes I prefer Ben Davis, Jonathan, Missouri Pippin, and Winesap; for family orchard, Early Harvest, Summer Queen, and Sherwood"s Favorite [Chenango]. Have tried and discarded Bellflower and Rawle"s Janet; they are a failure. I prefer hilltop, with a deep clay soil, slightly sandy, and a north or northeast slope. I prefer two-year-old trees, with smooth, heavy bodies, and a low top, set in holes forty feet apart, with a little loose dirt thrown in the bottom, the trees leaning a little to the southwest. I cultivate my orchard to sweet corn and castor-beans, using a disc run deep, excepting close to trees; I cease cropping after five years, and sow a bearing orchard to clover. Windbreaks are essential, and I would make them of maple, Russian mulberry, or Osage orange, set in rows close together, and cut top off maples at four feet. I use building paper as a protection against rabbits, and for borers I whitewash the trees; then remove about three inches of earth from the trees and pour some around the roots. I prune with a saw and shears, to admit more air and sun; I think it beneficial, and that it pays. I never thin my fruit on the trees. My trees are in mixed plantings, and I find them and Mrs. Garrison"s and several others" are thus more fruitful; the varieties used are Ben Davis, Jonathan, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and Sherwood"s Favorite, planted in alternate rows east and west. I never fertilize my orchard; I think clover left in an orchard for two years and then plowed or cut in with a disc is the best fertilizer for an orchard after it begins to bear. I never pasture my orchard; do not think it advisable.
My trees are troubled with bag-worm, roundhead borer, bark-louse, and fall web-worm. My apples are troubled with curculio. I spray with London purple and lime, with a pump, just after the fruit is formed, for web-worm and curculio. I think I have reduced the codling-moth by spraying. I get after insects not affected by spraying with a knife. I gather apples by hand in a sack, and sort into three cla.s.ses: the large and smooth, second size, and culls. I sort from the piles after picking; then sell or bury them. I prefer two-and-one-half-bushel barrels, with straw in the bottom and around the sides, marked with a tin tag, and hauled to market in a heavy spring wagon. I sell in the orchard, wholesale, retail, and peddle; I sell my best apples to shippers, peddle the second and third grades, and make cider of the culls. My best market is Ottawa; have never tried a distant market. I store apples in bulk or bin, in a fruit house built on a well-drained place; the house is made of flax straw, posts, and wire or boards to hold the straw in place; the walls are three and one-half feet thick, four and one-half feet high, and the roof two and one-half feet, with ventilator in the center. The door is in the east end. I use two doors, one on the inside, and one on the outside, filling the s.p.a.ce between with flax straw. Am successful in keeping apples, and find those that keep best are Jonathan, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and Smith"s Cider. Winter apples have been forty-five cents per bushel.