FRANCIS GOBLE, Leavenworth, Leavenworth county: Have been in Kansas over forty-three years. I have 13,000 apple trees, ranging in age from last spring"s setting to forty years. For commercial purposes I use Ben Davis, Winesap, Jonathan, Missouri Pippin, Ingram, Maiden"s Blush, Grimes"s Golden Pippin, and Smith"s Cider. For family use I would advise Jonathan, Winesap, Early Harvest, Rambo, and Milam. I have tried and discarded numerous varieties. I prefer medium to high land, with a clay and loam soil on a subsoil of clay and sand; any slope is better than southwest. I have planted trees of all ages, and all look well. I plant thirty-two feet east and west and sixteen feet north and south. I believe in thorough cultivation with plow, harrow, etc., as long as the orchard lives. Sometimes the orchard requires a certain kind of cultivation, at other times a different cultivation. In a young orchard I usually grow corn, potatoes, wheat, melons, or pumpkins. In a bearing orchard I usually grow nothing, though sometimes I take a crop of millet or pumpkins from the ground. I cease cropping entirely at from five to seven years. Windbreaks are not necessary here; they make their own windbreak if kept thoroughly cultivated and full of life. Thorough protection will largely prevent borers; if any are found in the tree I remove them with a knife and wire. For rabbits I wrap with paper or other material.
I prune with a saw to keep down surplus wood growth and improve the quality of the apples. It is beneficial if carefully done, a little every spring and not much at once. I believe thinning will pay when the trees are abnormally full. Remove as nearly as possible all defective fruit when half grown, and what is left will be of higher grade in size, color, and quality. I believe a decomposed stable fertilizer is necessary on some soils. Better not pasture with any stock whatever; I do not think it advisable; I think the profit (?) would be an expensive one. Am troubled somewhat with canker-worm, bud moth, borers, leaf-rollers, codling-moth, curculio, and gouger. I sprayed one year for insects generally with London purple through the spring season, and do not think it was a success. I pick about as Judge Wellhouse does, and sort into three cla.s.ses; the best we make firsts, the best half of the balance we call seconds, and the balance are simply culls. We pack in barrels and haul to market with wagons provided with racks holding sixteen barrels each. I sell my best apples at wholesale, but have never sold them in the orchard; the second grade I sell to groceries and peddlers; the culls I sell to anybody, usually in the orchard. I have never tried distant markets. I never dry any. I store for winter in a cold store built for the purpose on my own farm, which has been described in the paper. I have also tried artificial cold storage, and the Jonathans kept well. [See Cold Store.]
E. P. DIEHL, Olathe, Johnson county: I have lived in Kansas thirty years; have an apple orchard of 700 trees, twenty inches in diameter, twenty-nine years old. For market I prefer York Imperial, Jonathan, Winesap, and Ben Davis, and for family orchard Early Harvest, Maiden"s Blush, Winesap, and York Imperial. Have tried and discarded Bellflower, Dominie, Pennsylvania Red Streak, and White Winter Pearmain. I prefer hilltop with a mulatto limestone soil, northeast aspect. Would plant two-year-old trees, forty feet apart. I plant my orchard to corn and potatoes for five years, using a cultivator; cease cropping after six years; plant nothing in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; I would make them of trees, planted on the south, west, and north. I prune with a knife and saw; think it beneficial. I thin the fruit on my trees the latter part of May, and think it pays. My trees are in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard; think it beneficial and that it pays.
Pasture my orchard very little, late in the fall, with horses; think it advisable and that it pays. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, bud moth, root aphis, bagworm, flathead borer, roundhead borer, woolly aphis, twig-borer, and oyster-sh.e.l.l bark-louse; and my apples with codling-moth. I spray with London purple, using a force-pump, and think I have reduced the codling-moth. Those insects not affected by spraying I dig out with knife and wire. I hand-pick my apples from a step-ladder into a sack with a hoop in the mouth. Sort into three cla.s.ses: first, second, and third; pack by hand in three-bushel barrel, mark with stencil, and ship by rail. I sell my apples in the orchard, wholesale and retail. Sell my best ones to apple dealers. Sell my second- and third-grade apples at the stores; make vinegar of the culls. I have dried apples with an American dryer with satisfaction; after dry, pack in barrels; we find a ready market for them and think it pays. I store apples for winter in bulk in a cave and am successful; I find York Imperial and Rawle"s Janet keep best. We have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about twenty per cent.
of them. I do not irrigate. I get six cents per pound for dried apples.
I employ men at $1.25 per day.
In the growing of apples in Kansas many things are to be well considered. That injunction of Davy Crockett"s must be kept constantly in view to be successful: "Be sure you"re right, then go ahead." First, to select varieties that are well adapted to your soil; next, location; last but not least, the preparation of the soil and future care. Many of the varieties that are well adapted to the Eastern states are unprofitable here. Another great mistake is the planting of too many varieties. When I first came to this state thirty years ago, I consulted Col. A. S. Johnson, now of Topeka. From him I obtained a great deal of valuable information, he having had thirty-six years of Kansas experience. I should, no doubt, have planted many that I did not, owing to the information obtained of him; so it may be seen that, by proper care, experience, and observation, we may be of benefit to the rising generation. Having selected your varieties by consulting the published fruit list of the Kansas State Horticultural Society, next select your location. Select, if you can, the highest northern slope; next east, next west. Put your ground in good order by plowing and subsoiling at least fifteen inches deep. Should there be any tenacious soil or spouty places, tile with four-inch tile, forty feet apart, three feet deep. A great mistake is made by many in planting too closely. I have trees twenty-eight years old, forty feet from tip to tip. Plant to some cultivated crop for six years, then seed to clover; trim your trees each February; keep the borers out, and if they do get into your trees hunt them out; spray your trees frequently at the proper time to prevent the noxious insects from getting the start of you, and when your trees commence to bear commence to fertilize by turning under clover and stable litter. Horace Greeley once said: "You might as well expect milk from a cow tied to a stake as apples from an orchard uncared for."
A. MUNGER, Hollis, Cloud county: I have lived in Kansas fifteen years; have an apple orchard of seventy-five trees twelve inches in diameter, eighteen feet high, seventeen years old. I prefer for market Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and, to a limited extent, Yellow Transparent and Grimes"s Golden Pippin, and for a family orchard add Early Harvest and Maiden"s Blush. Have tried and discarded the Willow Twig on account of blight and rot. I prefer bottom land, with a loose subsoil, and young and stocky trees. I plant my orchard to potatoes, beans and vines for ten years, and use a cultivator that keeps three inches very mellow, and cease cropping when impossible to cultivate. I grow weeds in the orchard and mow them. Windbreaks are not essential, but are very desirable; would make them of Osage orange, Russian mulberries, or box-elder. Set the first row four feet apart, the second six inches, and never trim; the third six feet. For rabbits I use traps and gun. I hunt the borers and encourage the birds. I prune my trees so as to give air and sunshine; think it pays. Do not thin the fruit while on the trees. My apples are in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard in the winter with stable litter fresh from the stable; it appears to do good, and would advise its use, with judgment, on all soils. I pasture my orchard with hogs and calves. I do not think it advisable among young trees. My trees are troubled with leaf-roller, and my fruit with codling-moth. I spray just after the blossom falls, with Paris green, for the codling-moth.
Prices have been from 25 cents to $1 per bushel. What the future of apple-growing in northern central Kansas may be, it is of course impossible to tell, but from the success of the few orchards that have been planted, and after being planted have received some attention besides that bestowed by calves and pigs, it would seem well worth a trial. There are years when the best attention possible cannot prevent damage and some loss from drought, especially on upland. For this reason bottom land would seem more suitable for an orchard in this county, even though subject to some disadvantages. In some orchards on low land only a few feet above the water-level, where a sandy subsoil admits of a free natural subirrigation, the thrift and productiveness of the trees have been unusually good. Cold seems to be dreaded less than hot, dry weather in the latter part of the summer, although late spring frosts sometimes do damage. Even the traditional "north slope" might have its advantages somewhat balanced in this county by the valley lands that retain a large amount of moisture.
A good soil with a loose subsoil that holds the greatest possible amount of water are the most important requirements as to location. If the cultivation is then such as to save the water of early summer rains to the best advantage until the dry weather of the late summer comes, it will be drawn upon, and some very dry seasons may be tided over without much loss. Plowing in the spring and very frequent shallow cultivation afterwards are, as yet, the best known means to this end; and as a general rule they are sufficient to answer every purpose as far west as central Kansas, without artificial watering, as the average rainfall shows; but if the early rains are allowed to go to waste by falling on the hard ground and running directly off, or by rapid evaporation from an undisturbed surface, where capillary force is rapidly carrying back to the surface what has already soaked in, we invite ultimate failure when the drought comes. Cultivate once a week, or after each rain, when they come oftener than that, with something that will keep two or three inches of very fine, mellow earth on the surface, and will cause an amount of water to be retained in the soil below the earth mulch that will surprise any one who has never tried it. An ordinary harrow will do very well, or better a five-tooth cultivator, behind which I fasten a 24 scantling with large wire nails driven through it, about two inches apart, weighted on the back edge to keep it right side up; the scantling is cut as long as the width of the cultivator. At one operation the cultivator and this harrow leave the ground about like a hand-rake would, marked only by the footprints of the driver. Last summer this was used several times where young peach trees had been set out, going around each row and sometimes over the entire ground. There was no time during the summer that the trees stopped growing or showed signs of needing more moisture than they had. Nine hundred and ninety-four lived, the horses killed two, and the borers two more. Fifteen years ago I bought a small farm having on it a small family orchard of seventy-two apple trees. It included several varieties, from summer to winter sorts.
The trees were 2828 feet apart, with peach trees alternating both ways, making three times as many peaches as apples in the orchard. The land was cultivated until the trees were ten years old, then sowed to timothy and clover. The timothy soon died out; but the clover lived for a few years, but is gone now. It happened that some of the years that it was not cultivated were some of the driest during the fifteen, and several trees died of blight. Would this have happened if the cultivation had been continued? I have gone to plowing and cultivating again, anyway, with no crop in the orchard. The trees are now fifteen or twenty feet high, and about twelve inches in diameter at the ground. The peach trees have mostly been cut out. Cannot see that they did any harm, unless it might have been harder on the apple trees during the dry season; but if it was, the peaches were worth about as much as the apples, and the trees make a quick, bushy growth, thus forming a shelter for the apple trees, which now stand straight and are well balanced. We have had a peach crop about half of the years. Potatoes, beans and vine crops were raised in the orchard the first few years. It was surrounded by a windbreak of cottonwood and box-elder trees, several rows, seven feet apart each way. This is certainly very beneficial; but Russian mulberries grow as well, make a thicker top, and at the same time invite birds to keep up their quarters there and make their homes with us, "a consummation devoutly to be wished." Osage orange, planted the same as for a hedge and never cut back, will make a better windbreak than cottonwood or box-elder, and a fence at the same time.
This orchard has borne variable crops, some good, some light, but always fruits. It is on bottom land sloping very slightly to the southeast; soil a sandy loam with a clay subsoil. It has been pruned considerably, but not very much at a time. One man in this county who succeeds well with apples never prunes, except to keep the center open to sun and air.
Another near him gave his orchard a severe tr.i.m.m.i.n.g a few years ago, and had no fruit, but some dead trees for two or three years afterward. In planting, the ground should be well plowed, then mark off one way with a plow or lister. Twice to the row with the lister, with three or four horses, and the subsoiler well down, will make a very good preparation for small trees without much digging, and small trees are best for several reasons: they are cheaper, less work to set out, and more likely to live. Set stakes to go by, and, in planting, cross the furrows. We have just finished setting 2000 peach trees in this way, and very little digging was needed. Then cultivate well and often. Rub off shoots that start where limbs are not wanted, and start an evenly balanced top of four or five limbs. A year after the trees are set out, if any of them are leaning much, dig away the dirt on the side from which they lean, and set them up straight, tramping the dirt well on the opposite side.
With winter will come the rabbits, and they will girdle the trees if not prevented. Many and varied are the sure cures for them, but none are perfect. A wash of ordinary whitewash and a pint of sulphur to the bucketful, applied with a brush or swab to the bodies of the trees, generally stops their work, but if the rain washes it off it must be put on again or they will resume operations. A little coal-oil added to the whitewash prevents the rain from having so much effect on it; make it thin, so it will not scale off so badly. Two applications have been enough for our young trees the past winter. We also use traps which are very similar to the Wellhouse traps, described in the Kansas State Horticultural Report for 1897. Tarred paper, corn-stalks, veneering, screen wire, cloth tied around the trees, or a woven-wire fence around the entire orchard, are all among the practical means used to fence against rabbits; but don"t try the plan of one of my neighbors, unless you have too many trees; he applied coal-tar; it kept the rabbits off, and his orchard is now a treeless corn-field.
During winter we haul manure direct from the stable and spread under the trees (not against them) out as far as the ends of the limbs. On good ground I would not do much of this until the trees get to bearing, as it would interfere somewhat with cultivation and would not be needed, but when a good annual crop is taken from the orchard something must be returned, or the supply is going to run out. On thin land rotten manure applied when the trees are small will do them good. Pasturing an orchard at any time is of doubtful expediency; it is safer not to. I have sprayed but once. That was done just after the blossoms fell, and again ten days later. There were fewer wormy apples than usual. That was last year. Think I will try it further.
For a home orchard Early Harvest, Yellow Transparent, Maiden"s Blush, Grimes"s Golden Pippin, Winesap, Missouri Pippin and Ben Davis do well here and keep up a supply from first to last. For commercial planting Ben Davis is perhaps best here as elsewhere. Missouri Pippin does well; Winesap bears enormously, but is too small, and gets smaller as the trees get older. There is a good local demand here for Grimes"s Golden Pippin and a few of any very early variety. Willow Twig has been worthless on account of blight and rot. Encourage birds by every means, and never let one, or a nest, be disturbed, unless it is that belligerent little alien, the English sparrow. They are at war with all the feathered tribe, even with their own relations, and should be exterminated. Don"t begrudge birds a few feeds of cherries and berries, when they work for nothing and board themselves nearly all the year.
A. H. BUCKMAN, Topeka, Shawnee county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-eight years; have an apple-orchard of 1000 trees two to twenty-six years old. For market I prefer Maiden"s Blush, Jonathan, Winesap, Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Huntsman"s Favorite; and for a family orchard White Juneating (the earliest apple known), Red June, Early Ripe, d.u.c.h.ess of Oldenburg, Sweet June, Fulton Strawberry, Cooper"s Early White, Smokehouse, Maiden"s Blush, Grimes"s Golden Pippin, Jonathan, Winesap, Rawle"s Janet, Ben Davis, Ramsdell Sweet, Roman Stem, and Red Romanite. I have tried and discarded King, on account of rot, falls early, water core, short-lived; Kansas Keeper, on account of blight, poor tree; Yellow Bellflower, on account of being a shy bearer and rot; Willow Twig, on account of blight; Lansingburg, on account of blight when the tree is young; R. I. Greening, on account of its falling early, and rot. Baldwin, falls early and rots. Lawver, no good on my soil. McAfee"s Nonsuch, poor bearer. Rambo, not acclimated.
Northern Spy, rots. Pryor"s Red, ripens unevenly, and is affected with scab. Dominie, there are many better of its season. Esopus Spitzenburg, rots badly. Rome Beauty, good some seasons. Ohio Nonpareil, poor bearer, falls before ripe. Lowell, blights while trees are young. Winter Swaar, rots before perfectly ripe. Autumn Swaar, good of its season, and should have a place in the family orchard. York Imperial, poor quality; rots too bad for commercial purposes. American Summer Pearmain, shy bearer while young. White Winter Pearmain, is affected with scab and is no good. Red Winter Pearmain, falls off early; the tree is poor.
Gilliflowers, black and red, rot badly. Pennsylvania Red Streak, affected with scab; very good some seasons; trees die early. Sweet Bough, trees die early. Bentley Sweet, keeps all right, moderate bearer; tree appears to be tender. Clayton, rots and is no good. Calvert is a poor bearer and rots with me. Pound Pippin, no value. Iowa Blush, no value, small. Red Vandervere, no value; rots. Vandervere Pippin, moderate bearer and rots. Pennock Summer, good market in its season.
Pennock, fairly good; we have plenty better. Early Harvest is affected with scab some seasons. Early Ripe is better and larger and to be preferred. Smith"s Cider, blight, poor tree. Red Astrachan, poor bearer.
Roxbury Russet, all russets fail with me. Jefferis, quality fine, but will not bear. Ortley, good, but is inclined to rot.
I prefer hilltop having a drift soil, but the subsoil is of more importance than the surface soil. I prefer a north or northeast aspect.
I prefer two-year-old, medium-sized trees, clear of root aphis, set in a dead furrow, with peach trees between north and south. I cultivate my trees six years after planting, with a plow and five-tooth one-horse cultivator. Plant the young orchard to corn; cease cropping after six or seven years, and then seed down to clover. Windbreaks are essential; would make them by planting one to six rows of Osage orange, red cedar or catalpas all around the orchard. The boys hunt the rabbits with shot-guns. I wash the trees with a carbolic-acid wash for borers. I prune with a knife and saw to balance the top, keep down watersprouts, and to get rid of useless wood. I think it pays and is beneficial, as it shades the body of the tree and keeps off the flathead borers. I do not thin the fruit. Can see no difference whether trees are in blocks of one variety, or mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter all over the ground, and wood ashes around the trees, but do not believe it pays, and would not advise it on all soils; any soil that is suitable for an orchard will not need enriching until after it ceases to be profitable. I pasture my orchard with hogs and calves; I think it advisable under certain conditions, and find it pays. My trees are troubled with root aphis, roundhead borers and buffalo tree-crickets; and my apples with codling-moth. I do not spray. I pick my apples by hand, from a ladder, into a sack with a strap over the shoulder. I sell the bulk of my apples in the orchard, from piles, at wholesale and retail; sell the grocers and fruit dealers what are left of my best apples. Make cider of the second and third grades of apples. Feed the culls to the hogs. My best market is in Topeka. Never tried distant markets. Do not dry any. I store some apples for winter in bulk, in boxes and in barrels in a cellar. I have to repack stored apples before marketing. Apples have been about forty cents a bushel in the orchard for the last ten years.
E. HIGGINS, Seabrook, Shawnee county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-six years; have an apple orchard of 250 trees twenty-five years old. For market I prefer Winesap, Jonathan, Maiden"s Blush, Smith"s Cider, and Ben Davis; for family orchard, Winesap, Jonathan, Maiden"s Blush, Red June, and Grimes"s Golden Pippin. Have tried and discarded Kansas Keeper on account of blight. I prefer hilltop; best below lime rock, with a northeast slope. I prefer two-year-old, low-headed trees, set thirty feet each way. I plant to corn for four years, then cease cropping, and seed to clover. I have a windbreak on the south side made of Osage orange, to keep the hot winds off. I prune lightly to thin out some of the middle branches; I think it pays. I do not thin my fruit. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter, and plow it under. I think it beneficial, and would advise its use on all soils. I sow my orchard to oats, and pasture with hogs with rings in their noses; they live on the oats, and don"t hurt the trees, but with the help of the chickens they keep the canker-worms off. My trees are troubled with round- and flathead borers. I do not spray. I hand-pick my apples; sort into two cla.s.ses--shipping and cider. I sell my apples in the home market; sell second and third grades to the cider-mills. Never tried distant markets.
I do not dry any. I am successful in storing apples in bulk in a cellar; find Winesap to keep best. Prices have been from fifty to sixty cents per bushel. I employ young men at seventeen dollars per month.
J. C. BECKLEY, Spring Hill, Johnson county: I have lived in the state thirty years; have an apple orchard of 130 trees, twenty-eight years old and large for their age. For a commercial orchard I prefer Ben Davis, Jonathan, and Missouri Pippin; and for family use Early Harvest, Maiden"s Blush, Jonathan, and Winesap. I have tried and discarded Smith"s Cider, Talman (Sweet), Rambo, Fameuse, Willow Twig, White Winter Pearmain, Roman Stem, Dominie, Fallawater, Wagener, Baldwin, and White Pippin, because they mature too soon, fall off and rot long before it is time to pick them. I prefer hilltop with a dark mulatto soil and a clay subsoil, with a western aspect. I prefer two-year-old trees, with plenty of fibrous roots, and a well-developed top, set forty by forty feet. I cultivate my orchard till it is six or seven years old with a common plow and harrow. In a young orchard I plant potatoes, corn, pumpkins, melons, and garden-truck; I cease cropping after eight or nine years, and seed bearing orchard to clover. Windbreaks are not essential, unless on the south and north sides; would make them of cedar or evergreens. I would not make a windbreak at all. For rabbits I wrap the trees. When hunting borers I take knife and chisel and pare all gum and dirt off of the roots; then I cut wherever I see signs of a borer until I get him, and if he has gone too deep to cut out I take a No. 20 wire six or eight inches long, bend a very small hook on one end, and run it up in the hole he has made, and ninety-nine times out of 100 pull him out. When done put some alkali of some kind around the tree, such as lime, ashes, or soft soap; then cover up.
I prune with a saw or knife, cutting out the crossed limbs and shaping the top. I think it pays while the trees are young. I never thin the fruit while on the trees. My trees are in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard with stable and hog manure; I think it very beneficial, and advise its use on all soils, especially on old orchards. I pasture my orchard with hogs, and think it advisable at times. It pays. My trees are troubled with canker-worms, roundhead borers, and leaf rollers, and my apples with codling-moths. I have never sprayed, but intend to this spring, in April and May. I am going to use a dust sprayer with London purple and Paris green for canker-worm. I pick my apples by hand from a ladder into a sack, sort into two cla.s.ses by hand, pack in a two-bushel crate, fill full, with blossom end up, mark with the grade, and ship to market-place by freight. I retail apples in the orchard; sell my best ones in crates; feed the culls to hogs. Best market is at home; never tried distant markets. We sun-dry some apples for home use, then heat on the stove and put into paper sacks. I am quite successful in storing apples in bulk, boxes and barrels in a cellar. Ben Davis, Winesap and Little Romanite keep best. Sometimes I have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about one per cent. of them. Prices have been about sixty cents per bushel, and dried apples five to six cents; evaporated apples, seven to eight cents.
ALBERT PERRY, Troy, Doniphan county: Have lived in Kansas forty-one years; have an apple orchard of 5000 trees, planted from five to twenty-four years. I grow for commercial purposes, first, Jonathan; second, Ben Davis, York Imperial, and Mammoth Black Twig. Ten years hence those who now plant Ben Davis will probably regret it. [?] There is a growing demand for a better eating apple. I now plant Jonathans and York Imperial. The latter is a good bearer, and a vigorous tree, however aged. For family orchard, I would advise adding to these Rambo and Fall Strawberry [Chenango]. I have tried and discarded many others. Prefer bottom, loess formation, near Missouri river. No slope has any advantage over another. Cultivate with plow and harrow, growing corn as an orchard crop for five years; then seed to clover and blue gra.s.s only. Do not care for windbreaks. Where there are windbreaks apples on trees do not get sufficient air. I protect from rabbits by tying corn-stalks about young trees. Prune some. I believe all apple blossoms are self-pollinating, and there is no advantage in mixed plantings. Need no fertilizers but clover in my locality. Believe it pays to pasture the orchard with horses in the winter; if you have a stack of hay for them to go to they will not harm the trees. Am troubled with codling-moth and apple curculio. Spray for codling-moth ten days after the apple is formed, and believe I have reduced their number. I use the knife for borers. Pick in baskets; deliver to packers in orchard. The aphis appears to do no particular injury to tree or fruit. Burn fall web-worm with a coal-oil torch. Sort into number one, fancy, number two, fair but defective in shape, color, or otherwise, and culls. Pack in three-bushel barrels, pressed so they will not shake. Sell firsts in orchard; sell seconds in car lots in bulk; sell culls in bulk for cider or vinegar. My best market is in the orchard. Have tried consigning to distant markets, but it did not pay. Have stored second grades for winter in boxes and barrels and in bulk, and made it pay. Ben Davis, Winesap and Rawle"s Janet kept best. We sort and lose about one-fifth of the second grade only. Prices have run from $1 to $1.50 per barrel, of late years, in the orchard. For help in care of orchard I use men. In picking season I use all kinds of help. No experts. Pay from $1 to $1.50 per day.
J. H. ROACH, Lowemont, Leavenworth county: Have been in Kansas forty-two years. Have an apple orchard of 5500 trees; 800 planted thirty years, 1200 planted thirteen years, and 3500 planted three years. For commercial purposes I prefer Jonathan, Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Winesap, and Willow Twig. For family use I prefer Jonathan, Huntsman"s Favorite, and Winesap. I have discarded Yellow Bellflower, Rawle"s Janet, and Russets. I prefer black loam with red gravel subsoil, hilltop with extreme north slope, no matter how steep. I plant thrifty two-year-old trees, thirty-three feet apart each way, except Missouri Pippin, which may be closer. Cultivate up to twelve years of age; grow corn until seven, then clover two years; then corn one year, after that clover with a little timothy, to keep the weeds down. I cease cropping the clover when the orchard is from twelve to fourteen years old. I consider windbreaks harmful. Any good axle grease or "dope" will keep off rabbits. I trim until five years old with a pocket-knife, to give shape and stout branches. I believe fertilizers are beneficial, put on every second or third year. I pasture my bearing orchard with horses and cattle, after the fruit is gathered until the 1st of January; think it is advisable and a benefit; allow no hogs in at any time. Am bothered some with borers and codling-moth. Have never tried spraying, but would advise it. We pick in sacks fastened over the shoulder with a snap and ring. Usually sell in the orchard. Have tried artificial cold storage satisfactorily, and think it the most reasonable plan. Prices have ranged from $1 to $1.50 per barrel, for firsts and seconds, in the orchard. I employ men at seventy cents per day.
A. D. ARNOLD, Longford, Clay county: Have lived in Kansas twenty years.
Have 300 apple trees, sixteen years planted, from ten to fifteen inches in diameter. Grow only Ben Davis, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin for all purposes. I prefer bottom land in this locality, sandy loam with a northern aspect. Plant two-year, stocky trees, with a low top. I cultivate with the plow and disc, and grow no crop in the orchard. I believe a windbreak of box-elder or evergreens is beneficial but not essential. I prune very little, using my knife with judgment. I use stable litter as a mulch, and think it pays. I never pasture my orchard.
Have few insects but codling-moth. I shade the body of the tree to keep borers out, and dig them out if any get in. I use ladders, and pick into baskets, and sort into two cla.s.ses--perfect and imperfect. My trees have never borne a full crop, only enough for home use and the neighbors. We have had several dry seasons, causing the fruit to fall badly.
J. S. g.a.y.l.o.r.d, Muscotah, Atchison county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-six years; have 5000 apple trees, planted from one to twelve years. For market I prefer Missouri Pippin, Ben Davis, Winesap, and York Imperial, and for family would add Yellow Transparent, Cooper"s Early White, Maiden"s Blush, Grimes"s Golden Pippin, Jonathan, Rawle"s Janet, and Little Romanite. I prefer hilltop with eastern slope, and would plant only two-year-old trees. I have grown both seedlings for stock and root grafts, in the nursery. I believe in thorough cultivation with two-horse cultivator and double-shovel plow, using a five-tooth cultivator near the trees. I crop with corn from seven to nine years, and then sow to clover. I do not think windbreaks essential. For rabbits and to prevent borers I use equal parts of carbolic acid and water as a wash. I prune a little by cutting back on the north side and keeping out the watersprouts, which I think pays. I think it pays to thin apples by hand in July and August. I have used some stable litter in the orchard, and think it pays. I pasture horses in my orchard during winter, but no stock at any other time. I spray, after blossoms fall, three times, two weeks apart, with Paris green, for the codling-moth, and my apples are quite free from worms. I dig out borers and pick off worm nests. I pick by hand in half-bushel baskets, sell at wholesale, and the buyer sorts to suit himself. I have never dried or stored any. Prices in 1896 and 1897, seventy-five cents per barrel; spring of 1898, $1.25 to $1.65. I use laborers at one dollar per day.
ALEX. SPIERS, Linn, Washington county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-eight years. For commercial orchard I prefer Jonathan, Cooper"s Early White, Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Rawle"s Janet, Dominie, Winesap; and for family orchard Jonathan, Winesap, Cooper"s Early White, and Ben Davis.
Have tried and discarded Yellow Bellflower on account of shy bearing. I prefer rolling upland, black, sandy loam with porous subsoil, and a southeast slope. I prefer two-year-old trees; have tried root grafts and seedlings with good success. I cultivate with a diamond plow up to bearing age. Windbreaks are essential, and I would make them of ash, box-elder, maple, and elm; I would plant either the young trees or seed.
I prune with a saw, and use a chisel on watersprouts. I think it beneficial. I thin by shaking the tree when the fruit is small. I fertilize; think it benefits the trees, by making them grow stronger, and they fruit better; think it advisable on all soils. I pasture my orchard with hogs, but would not advise it; does not pay. Flathead borer and fall web-worm affect my trees. I spray, as soon as the bloom falls, with London purple. I sometimes sell my apples in the orchard, and sometimes from the cellar. I store apples in the cellar, and am successful. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from twenty-five cents to one dollar per bushel.
THEO. BEDKER, Linn, Washington county: I have lived in Kansas thirty years; have an apple orchard of 100 trees from two to twelve years old.
For market I prefer Ben Davis, and for a family orchard Winesap. I prefer bottom land with a sandy loam and a northeast aspect. I plant my trees in squares thirty feet apart. I cultivate my orchard for three years with a single-horse cultivator. Plant corn and potatoes in a young orchard; cease cropping after four years; plant timothy and clover mixed in bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of willows, by planting on north and south sides of the orchard. For rabbits I wrap the trees with corn-stalks in the winter, and dig the borers out. I prune my trees with a saw to make thinner; I think it beneficial, and that it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. I do not think it would pay. I fertilize my orchard with slaked lime, and would advise it on all soils. It helps to keep off borers. I do not pasture my orchard; do not think it advisable. My apple trees are troubled with bud moth, twig-borer, and leaf-crumpler, and my apples with curculio. I have sprayed when in bloom with London purple, but do not think I have reduced the codling-moth. I pick my apples by hand, and sort into two cla.s.ses--good keepers and cider apples. Put them all in one pile and then sort. I prefer barrels or boxes, from three to twenty bushels; fill them full. I retail my apples. I sell the best in sacks by the bushel. Make cider for vinegar of the culls. Never tried distant markets. I dry some for home use in the sun; this is satisfactory. I am successful in storing apples in boxes and barrels in the cellar. I find the Rawle"s Janet and Winesap keep best. I never tried artificial cold storage; I lose about one-twentieth of my stored apples. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from thirty-five to fifty cents per bushel.
JOHN FULCOMER, Belleville, Republic county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-seven years; have raised for market Ben Davis, Winesap, and Jonathan; would prefer for family orchard Early Harvest, Red June, d.u.c.h.ess of Oldenburg, Cooper"s Early White, Smith"s Cider, Minkler, Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Ben Davis, Golden Sweet, and Maiden"s Blush.
Have tried and discarded about all varieties excepting the above named on account of being tender and unprofitable. I prefer bottom land, limestone soil with a gravel subsoil, and a northeast or eastern slope.
I prefer for planting strong, stocky yearlings--never over two years old--set at the crossing of furrows plowed with a lister. I cultivate my orchard to potatoes, pumpkins, squashes, melons, or any low hoed crop. I use an ordinary ten- or twelve-inch plow, and a five-tooth cultivator, and keep this up until they begin to bear; then seed to clover, mow it, and let it rot on the ground; then let the clover seed fall under, harrow, and let come up again. Windbreaks are beneficial; would make them of ash and Osage orange, by planting a few rows of trees inside of the hedge. To protect against rabbits, I wrap the trees. I prune with a saw and knife to remove chafing and dead limbs, and to make the tree more healthy and vigorous. I think it beneficial. I never thin the fruit on the trees. I fertilize my orchard with coal and wood ashes; think it beneficial, and would advise their use on all soils. I do not pasture my orchard. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, and my apples with codling-moth. I never have sprayed to any extent. I hand-pick my apples, in one-half bushel splint baskets; sort into two cla.s.ses as soon as picked.
LOW. MILLER, Perry, Jefferson county: Have lived in Kansas thirty years.
Have an apple orchard of 2400 trees from one to fifteen years old. For commercial purposes I prefer Jonathan, Missouri Pippin, and Ben Davis, and for family orchard Early Harvest, Red Winter Pearmain, Cooper"s Early White, and Rambo. I prefer bottom land, clay soil and a porous subsoil, with a north and east slope. I prefer two-year-old, low-headed, stocky trees, planted twenty-five by thirty feet. I cultivate my orchard to corn for six years, using a plow, cultivator, and harrow, and cease cropping after six or seven years. Grow only weeds in a bearing orchard.
Windbreaks are essential; would make them of maples, planted two rods apart around orchard. For rabbits I keep two hounds and a shot-gun. I get after the borers with a knife. I prune with a knife to keep out watersprouts. Never have thinned fruit on the trees. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter, and think it has proven beneficial, but would not advise its use on all soils. I pasture my orchard with horses, but would not advise it. I doubt if it pays. My trees are troubled with borers, and my apples with codling-moth. I do not spray. Pick my apples by hand into sacks. I sort into three cla.s.ses--first, second, and culls--into baskets from the ground. I sell apples in the orchard at wholesale. I market my best apples in barrels; sell second and third grades to vinegar and cider-mills. My best market is at home. Never tried distant markets. Do not dry any. I store some apples in bulk in a cellar, and am successful. Ben Davis and Missouri Pippin keep best.
Prices have been seventy-five cents to $1.50 per barrel. I employ men and boys at one dollar per day.
WM. GURWELL, Fanning, Doniphan county: I have lived in Kansas thirty-five years; have 5000 apple trees, planted from two to thirty years. For commercial orchard I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, Jonathan, White Winter Pearmain, and Rawle"s Janet; and would add for family use Early Harvest and Dominie. Have tried and discarded Yellow Bellflower; not prolific in this climate. I prefer hill with black loam and clay subsoil; any slope but southwest is good. I prefer two-year-old trees, and set them in holes dug two and half to three feet square with a spade, and set the trees two or three inches deeper than they stood in the nursery. Have tried home-grown root grafts, and was successful. I cultivate to corn, potatoes, pumpkins, and melons, using plow and harrow. I crop a bearing orchard lightly, and cease when in full bearing. I kill the rabbits. I prune with saw, knife, and clippers, and think it beneficial. I seldom thin fruit on the trees. My trees are planted in blocks. I fertilize the land near the trees with stable litter; I would advise its use on thin soil. I pasture my orchard with calves and hogs, and think it advisable; it pays in some orchards. Trees are troubled with borers; I hunt the borers with a wire. We pick carefully in large baskets and sacks from a step-ladder; I pack in barrels. My best market is northwest of here; I sometimes sell in the orchard at wholesale, retail, and peddle; dry and make cider of the culls; never dry for market. I sometimes store a few apples, and find the Winesap, White Winter Pearmain and Rawle"s Janet keep the best. We have to repack stored apples before marketing them. Do not irrigate.
Prices have been from 60 cents to $1.25 per barrel. I employ all kinds of help, and pay one dollar per day.