Chapter C: A. PERDUE, Beloit, Mitchell 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.

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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 grasshoppers. I do not spray. Do not irrigate.

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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 Duchess 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.

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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 circumference. 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.

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