Chapter M: M. WILSON, Zionville, Grant county: I have resided in Kansas fourteen

years; have an apple orchard of 300 trees ten years old, four to six inches in diameter. I prefer sandy bottom land.

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THOMAS E. HOCKETT, Hugoton, Stevens county: I have lived in the state thirteen years; have an apple orchard of sixty trees eight years old, eight to twelve feet high. I prefer dark, sandy loam. I dig large holes, set one-year-old trees, putting top soil around the roots. I cultivate my orchard with a stirring plow and hoe, and plant nothing; am still cultivating. Windbreaks are essential. I would make them of two or three rows of mulberry trees. For protection from rabbits I rub dead rabbit on the tree, and repeat if necessary when we have much rain. I prune very little. Do not thin the fruit while on the trees. My trees are planted in blocks. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter; think it beneficial, and would advise its use on all soils. I do not pasture my orchard. I do not spray; am not troubled with insects. I hand-pick my apples. I do not dry or store any for market. I do not irrigate.

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GEO. T. ELLIOTT, Great Bend, Barton county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-one years. Have an apple orchard of 800 trees from two to ten years old, and three to seven inches in diameter. For market I prefer Missouri Pippin, Ben Davis, and Jonathan. I prefer a sandy bottom, with a northeast aspect. I prefer three-year-old trees set twenty feet apart, in land which has been plowed deeply and subsoiled. I cultivate my orchard as long as I can get among the trees, with a disc that throws dirt out first, and one that throws dirt in second. I cease cropping after the first year; plant nothing in a bearing orchard. I have a windbreak made of black locust and mulberries. I prune with pruning-knife and shears to form the tops. I think it pays. I do not thin my apples while on the trees. I believe all orchards should be set in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter, and think it beneficial on sandy soil. I do not pasture my orchard; do not think it advisable; it does not pay. My trees are troubled with flathead borers and tent-caterpillars, and my apples with curculio. I do not spray. I hand-pick my apples. I do not irrigate; but think a windmill and a good pond would pay.

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J. B. SCHLICHTER, Sterling, Rice county: I have lived in Kansas since 1871. For market I prefer Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Willow Twig, and Rawle's Janet, and for a family orchard Maiden's Blush and Early Harvest. I have tried and discarded Ben Davis because they died when eighteen or twenty years old; they are no good here. I prefer a northeast slope, with a sandy loam and a clay subsoil. I prefer small two-year-old trees, set 16x24 feet, rows running north and south. I plant my orchard to corn up to bearing age, using the plow and harrow, and plant nothing after they begin to bear, but keep up the cultivation. Windbreaks are essential; I would make them of two or three rows of Russian mulberries, on the south side of the orchard. I do not prune my trees; it does not pay. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. My trees are in mixed plantings. I do not fertilize my orchard. I do not pasture my orchard; it is not advisable. I do not spray. I pick my apples by hand, the old way; sort into two classes. I dry some.

FRUIT DISTRICT No. 4.

Following is the fourth district, composed of twenty-four counties in southeast 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 fourth district, as compiled from the statistics of 1897. Many thousands were added in the spring of 1898.

_Bearing._ _Not bearing._ _Total._
Allen 122,015 64,449 186,464
Anderson 111,372 46,719 158,091
Bourbon 175,961 40,570 216,531
Butler 182,827 53,966 236,793
Chase 46,762 25,191 69,953
Chautauqua 96,865 22,853 119,718
Cherokee 238,331 92,067 330,398
Coffey 167,255 68,247 235,502
Cowley 172,648 50,767 223,415
Crawford 143,089 34,798 177,887
Elk 101,601 34,343 135,944
Greenwood 117,840 70,224 188,064
Harvey 85,471 30,613 116,084
Labette 257,915 83,345 341,260
Linn 108,654 45,285 153,939
Lyon 161,295 116,176 277,471
Marion 86,838 64,359 151,197
McPherson 122,538 38,498 161,036
Montgomery 121,282 35,572 156,854
Neosho 159,443 61,754 221,197
Sedgwick 182,363 74,742 257,105
Sumner 140,613 36,961 177,574
Wilson 139,869 47,876 187,745
Woodson 72,815 24,485 97,300
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Total in district No. 4 3,315,862 1,163,660 4,479,522
Estimated acreage 650,000 220,000 870,000

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WM. SNYDER, Towanda, Butler county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-seven years; have an orchard of 1200 trees--200 twenty-six years old, diameter twelve to fifteen inches, thirty feet high; 700 twelve years old, eight to ten inches in diameter at base, twelve to fifteen feet high; 300 eight years old, five to six inches in diameter at the ground, eight to ten feet high. For all purposes I prefer Summer Rose, Early Harvest, Duchess of Oldenburg, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Jonathan, Missouri Pippin, Winesap, and Ben Davis. Bottom land is best for Ben Davis and Winesap; other varieties named will do better on high ground. Northeast slope is preferable; black loam with clay subsoil. I plant healthy three-year-old trees, branching three feet from ground, in deep furrows, crossmarked with plow; stand trees erect, and tramp earth firmly about the roots. I cultivate my orchard five years with plow and cultivator, and grow corn in young orchard. I cease after five years, and grow nothing in bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of peach, Russian mulberry, or cedar, by planting several rows on south of orchard. For rabbits, fence with two-foot poultry netting; for borers, whitewash and cultivate. I prune just a little with saw or shears to remove interlocking branches only; it pays. Never have thinned my fruit; believe it does not pay. Can distinguish no difference whether trees are in blocks of one kind or mixed plantings. I do not fertilize my orchard. Stable litter would, I think, benefit thin soil. I do not pasture my orchard; it is not advisable, and does not pay.

My apple trees are troubled with canker-worm, root aphis, and fall web-worm. Have sprayed for fifteen years, for canker-worm and codling-moth. Have used London purple and arsenate of lime. I spray for canker-worm as soon as they hatch and the buds begin to open, and again before bloom opens; for codling-moth, at time the bloom drops. I have reduced the codling-moth very much. I pick my apples by hand, from a ladder, into baskets, and sort into two classes usually; first class, for market, picked by hand; second class, for cider, shaken off. Have never used packages of any kind. Usually deliver in wagon. I sell apples in the orchard, wholesale and retail. Sell best to my neighbors, in orchard. Second and third grades I sell cheap and convert into cider and vinegar. The culls I feed to cattle and hogs. My best market is in the orchard and at Wichita; never have tried distant markets. Never dry any. Sometimes I store apples for winter market in a cellar, but prefer a cave; store in boxes and bulk. Am fairly successful; have apples in cellar at this time (May 1), Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Ben Davis, and Grimes's Golden Pippin, in the order named. Never have tried artificial cold storage; have to repack stored apples, if late, losing from ten to fifteen per cent. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from 50 cents to $1.50 per bushel. I employ the best help I can get, and pay seventy-five cents per day and board.

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R. O. GRAHAM, Altoona, Wilson county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-seven years. Have an apple orchard of forty trees from five to eight years old. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Willow Twig, Rawle's Janet, and Grimes's Golden Pippin; and for family orchard I would add Maiden's Blush, Red Astrachan, and Red June. I have tried and discarded Belleflower, Limber Twig, and King of Tompkins County; they are no good. I prefer a clay bottom, with a north or northeast slope. I prefer two-year-old, round-top trees, with whole roots, set in dug holes, in the fall or spring, as deeply as they stood in the nursery. I cultivate my orchard five to eight years, with a hoed crop, or just keep the ground clean, and sow oats and sometimes red clover in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; I would make them of Osage orange. I prune to give shape, and to keep limbs from crossing; I think it beneficial, and that it pays. I seldom thin my fruit while on the trees; I pick them off when the size of walnuts. My trees are in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard with well-rotted stable litter; put it between the rows; it has proven very beneficial; I would advise it on all soils, but less of it on bottom land. I never pasture my orchard, excepting with pigs, to eat the oats or clover, which I think advisable, and that it pays.

My trees are troubled with bark-louse, twig-borer, web-worm, tent-caterpillar, and canker-worm, and my apples with codling-moth and curculio. I spray my trees while in bloom, and two or three times afterward, with London purple and some Paris green; have greatly reduced the codling-moth. For rabbits I wrap the trees with corn-stalks and tie with a string. Borers I dig out, and then with a goose-quill or a spray nozzle I blow insecticides into the hole. I pick my apples by hand into sacks or pails from a step-ladder; sort into three classes; pack very closely into two and one-half bushel barrels, and mark with variety and grade; haul to market on wagon. I have sold apples in the orchard; I dispose of them any way I can; I feed culls to the hogs. My best markets are Kansas City, Denver, and Western points; have tried distant markets, and found it paid; but better sell at home. I do not dry many apples; it does not pay for good apples. I am fairly successful in storing apples in boxes, barrels and bulk in a cellar. I find Ben Davis, Jonathan and Rawle's Janet keep best. Never tried artificial cold storage. I have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about ten per cent. of them. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from 75 cents to $1.25 per bushel for winter apples. I employ men at one dollar per day.

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FRED. WAHLENMAIER, Arkansas City, Cowley county: I have resided in the state thirty-five years. Have an apple orchard of five acres, twenty-four years old. I prefer Maiden's Blush for a family orchard. I prefer a sandy loam, hilltop, with a north slope. I prefer two-year-old trees, planted thirty feet apart. I plant my young orchard to corn, and plant nothing in a bearing orchard. I prune my trees, to produce better and more fruit. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter. I pasture my orchard with calves. My trees are troubled with canker-worms and roundhead borers. I sprayed last year for canker-worms, with coal-oil and water, when the leaves were coming out. I wholesale my apples. Make cider of the culls. My best market is Arkansas City. We sun-dry some apples for our own use. I have stored some apples in the cellar; never have tried artificial cold storage. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from twenty-five to sixty cents per bushel.

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