Chapter C: R. DAVIDSON, Yates Center, Woodson county: I have lived in Kansas

fifteen years; have an apple orchard with trees from five to twenty years old. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Jonathan, Winesap, and Maiden's Blush, and for family orchard add Early Harvest. Have tried and discarded Yellow Bellflower; it will not bear. I prefer bottom land with a northern slope which has a black loam. I prefer two- or three-year-old trees, set in rows thirty feet east and west, and sixteen feet north and south. I plant my orchard with corn four or five years, using a cultivator, and cease cropping after six or eight years; Kafir-corn does well in a bearing orchard. For rabbits I think wire screening is best. I prune my trees to let in air; think it beneficial, and that it pays. Do not thin the fruit while on the trees. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter; it strengthens and invigorates the trees; would advise its use on all soils unless very rich. I pasture my orchard with calves, because they do not hurt the trees; I think it advisable, and that it pays. My trees are troubled with web-worm, and my apples with curculio. I spray with London purple, one tablespoonful to two gallons of water, to destroy the curculio. I think I have reduced the codling-moth. For borers I use ashes; throw them around the tree, or make a lye of them, and wash the tree and throw some around the roots. I pick my apples from a ladder into baskets.

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G. K. AYERS, Furley, Sedgwick county: I have lived in the state twenty-seven years. Have an apple orchard of 300 trees, twenty-one years planted, eight to fourteen inches in diameter. For commercial orchard I prefer Ben Davis, Jonathan, Rome Beauty, and Winesap, and for family orchard Sweet June, Duchess of Oldenburg, Maiden's Blush, Baldwin, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Jonathan, Rome Beauty, and Winesap. Have tried and discarded Red Astrachan and Rambo for unproductiveness; White Winter Pearmain as unproductive, short-lived, and a poor seller. I prefer for an apple orchard the best corn land, in a bottom. I prefer two-year-old trees, with good roots not mangled, set in squares thirty feet each way. I cultivate my orchard to corn or vines, using a plow, harrow and cultivator eight or ten years in the orchard, and cease cropping after ten years. I plant a bearing orchard to orchard-grass and timothy (blue-grass is injurious). Windbreaks would be an advantage on the south and west; would make them of live trees; plant Osage orange next to orchard and forest-trees outside of it. For rabbits I wrap the young trees; also shoot and trap them, especially the jacks.

I prune very cautiously, and mostly on the north side, using a saw and knife, to give symmetry and keep limbs from crowding; I think it beneficial. I fertilize portions of my orchard with stable litter; would not advise it on all soils, as I think an orchard can be overstimulated. I have pastured the orchard with calves and hogs, but do not now; it does not pay; do not think it advisable. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, flathead borer, and fall web-worm, and my apples with codling-moth and curculio. I spray April 15 and May 10, on later date, with London purple, for insects. Think I have reduced the codling-moth. For insects not affected by spraying, I keep the tree in a healthy condition. Pick my apples by hand; sort into three classes--market, cooking, and cider. I sell apples in the orchard, wholesale, retail, or peddle; sell the best apples in the orchard or to dealers; peddle the second and third grades; make cider of the culls. I find the nearest markets to be the best; never have tried distant markets. Do not dry any. Do not store any, but think I shall. Do not irrigate, but would if I had the water. Prices have been fifty cents to one dollar per bushel for best winter apples.

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H. A. CONDRA, Longton, Elk county: I have resided in Kansas twenty-one years; have an apple orchard of seventy-five trees, twenty years old, ten to sixteen inches in diameter, twenty to twenty-five feet high. I have thirty more which are but two years old. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, Jonathan, and Missouri Pippin; and for family orchard Red Astrachan, Maiden's Blush, Rawle's Janet, Missouri Pippin, and Winesap. I prefer a bottom which has a rich loam, with a gravel subsoil and a north or east slope. I prefer two-year-old trees having but two limbs, both starting from the same place, set in holes four to six feet in diameter, two feet deep, filled in with good dirt. I cultivate my orchard to corn--so as to keep weeds down and hold moisture--use a disc harrow and cultivator so as to keep the soil loose and fine two or three inches down. I cease cropping after eight or ten years, and plant nothing in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are not essential. For rabbits I use tin from the roofs of burned buildings or building paper. I prune with a saw and an ax to thin the tops and keep the limbs above my head; think it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. My trees are planted in blocks [of same kind]. I fertilize my orchard with any well-rotted manure; I think it beneficial, and would advise its use on all soils, especially on old orchards. I do not pasture my orchard; do not think it advisable; it does not pay.

My trees are troubled with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, leaf-roller, and leaf-crumpler, and my apples with codling-moth. I spray when the leaves first come out, when in blossom, and once or twice afterwards, ten days apart, with London purple and Bordeaux mixture for codling-moth and leaf-eating worms. Think I have reduced the codling-moth some. I stand on a step ladder and pick my apples by hand in a small basket, then pour them into a wagon. I sort into three classes--sound, blemished, and rotten. Sound ones are put in crates, blemished are made into cider, and the rotten ones go to the hogs. I pack in crates, for convenience, and then store in the cellar. They are made of lath and 1x12 boxing lumber. The lath are sawed across in the middle, the lumber into lengths of fourteen inches. The bottom and sides are lath one-half inch apart. This makes an airy crate, easy to handle, two feet long, fourteen inches wide and twelve inches deep, which when rounded up will hold one and one-half bushels of apples. I sell apples in the orchard; also retail and peddle. My best apples are usually sold in the orchard. Of the second and third grades we make cider, apple-butter, and vinegar. The hogs get the culls. My best market is at home. I do not dry; cannot find a ready market, and it does not pay.

I am successful in storing apples in crates in a cellar which has a wareroom overhead; the walls are of sandstone two feet thick, with six inches of dry sand between the ceiling of the cellar and the floor of the wareroom. A door is in the south end, and a window in the north, with screens so the outside shutter is open all the time except at noonday sun, and when raining or freezing. There is an air-shaft through ceiling to roof. The racks or shelves are made of 1x4 lumber, and there is one inch of space between the crates when slipped in, thus allowing the air to circulate around them. I have apples in the cellar now (April 25) while my neighbors who stored in bulk have none fit to eat; all are rotten. I find Rawle's Janet and Winesap keep best. I have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about one-tenth of them. I do not irrigate. Prices have averaged thirty-five cents per bushel. Dried apples have been four cents for sun-dried and eight cents for evaporated.

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T. H. GUEST, Grafton, Chautauqua county: I have lived in this county twenty years. Have an apple orchard of 3000 trees ten years old. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, White Winter Pearmain, and Little Romanite; and for family orchard Red June, Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Jonathan, Early Harvest, and Grimes's Golden Pippin. Have tried and discarded Bellflower and Willow Twig on account of blight. I prefer bottom land, with a black, sandy loam, clay subsoil, and northern aspect. I prefer one-year-old trees--switches--planted with a lister. I cultivate my orchard to corn eight years, then use a disc harrow, running both ways, keeping a dust mulch; I cease cropping at bearing age and plant nothing. Never put alfalfa in an orchard. Windbreaks are not essential here. For rabbits I use lath and woven wire, and concentrated lye for borers. I prune with a saw and shears, to increase the size and color of the fruit; I think it beneficial, and that it pays. I never thin the fruit while on the trees, but believe it would pay. My trees are in mixed plantings; I have Gilpin or Little Romanite growing beside Missouri Pippins; they blossom the same time. At picking time in the fall I have noticed a very marked difference in the Gilpin, it having the peculiarities of the Missouri Pippin: the increase in size, with the white specks and oblong shape peculiar to the Missouri Pippin. I also noticed a difference in the Romanite for two rows in; I tried keeping some of them until spring; some were quite mellow, and the flavor was much superior to that of the Romanites not near the Missouri Pippins. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter, but would not advise its use on heavy soils. Do not pasture my orchard; it is not advisable, and does not pay. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, root aphis, flathead borer, fall web-worm, and leaf-roller; and my apples with codling-moth, curculio, and gouger. I spray successfully when the fruit buds appear in the spring, with Paris green, London purple and Bordeaux mixture for canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, and curculio. I hand-pick my apples in sacks and baskets from step-ladders, and sort into two classes--first and second--as we pick them; put them into two different vessels, and let the culls drop. I pack my apples in two-bushel packages, with blossom end down, mark with the grower's and consignee's names, and haul to market on a heavy truck. I sell some apples in the orchard to buyers from the territory. I make cider and vinegar of the culls, but do not dry, store nor irrigate any. Prices have been from twenty-five cents to one dollar per bushel.

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G. W. RHODES, Lowe, Chautauqua county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-two years. Have an orchard of 500 apple trees from five to twenty years old. For market I prefer Ben Davis and Jonathan, and for family orchard Ben Davis, Ortley, Maiden's Blush, and Grimes's Golden Pippin. Have tried and discarded Lawver, King and Baldwin on account of shy bearing. I prefer hilltop, with deep loam, limestone soil, and clay subsoil, with northeast slope. I prefer straight one-year-old trees, with plenty of roots, set in squares of twenty-five feet. I cultivate my orchard to corn or potatoes while the trees are small, using a plow and cultivator, and cease cropping after ten years; plant nothing in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are not essential, but would be beneficial; would make them of evergreens. For borers I wash the trunks of small trees with carbolic acid and strong soap-suds. I prune to thin the tops, so I can get in to gather the apples; it pays. I have thinned the fruit while on the trees, but not lately; haven't time; but think it pays. My trees are planted in rows, each variety by itself. I fertilize my orchard with barn-yard litter while I am cultivating; when the trees get larger I mow the grass and weeds and let lay as a mulch, and afterwards as a manure; this is all needed. Never have pastured the orchard, but think hogs with rings in their noses would be a benefit. My apples are troubled with codling-moth. I spray after the blossom falls with arsenates, for all kinds of insects that come early, especially the codling-moth; think I have reduced them. I pick my apples by hand from a ladder, bench, or get into the tree. We sort into two grades, large and small; sell them in the orchard to people from the west and Oklahoma, who haul them off in wagons. We have a great many dried apples, dried by the neighbors on shares; we find a ready market for them. I am quite successful in storing apples in bulk in a cave arched over with stone. Ben Davis, Winesap and Missouri Pippin keep best. Prices have been from twenty-five to sixty cents per bushel in the fall, and from $1 to $1.50 in the winter.

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JASON HELMICK, Cloverdale, Chautauqua county: Has lived in Kansas twenty-seven years. For all commercial purposes he prefers Missouri Pippin and Winesap, and adds a few summer and fall varieties for family use. Has tried and discarded Bellflower, because the fruit drops off, and Ben Davis, because it cannot stand heat and drought--the trees decay early. He prefers north or northeast slope, bottom land, with a deep, porous soil, the more porous the better. He pastures his orchard with horses, cattle, and hogs, and thinks it advisable if done with care; it pays. His trees are troubled with tent-caterpillar, flat-headed borer, and leaf-roller, which do little damage. His greatest drawback is drought and heat. He does not spray, and cuts borers out in August or earlier, and kills the caterpillars. Picks his apples by hand. Never sells them in the orchard; raises mostly for home use. Stores some in boxes in a cellar. Does not irrigate. Marketable apples usually sell for twenty-five cents per bushel.

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J. W. GOODELL, Sedan, Chautauqua county: Have lived in Kansas fifteen years; have an orchard of 200 trees, which are nine years old. For a commercial orchard I would plant Ben Davis, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin; and for a family orchard would add Early Harvest. Have tried and discarded Lowell and Yellow Bellflower as too tender for the climate. I prefer bottom land having a black, sandy loam, and a northern slope, and plant one-year-old trees, thirty by thirty feet. I cultivate with a disc, and am still cultivating, growing corn in the orchard for nine or ten years. Windbreaks are essential. I would make them of natural oak if possible. For borers and rabbits I use concentrated lye and lath jackets. I prune my trees with a saw and shears, and think it pays and is beneficial. I never thin apples while on the trees, and have never fertilized. Do not pasture my orchard. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, root aphis, fall web-worm, and leaf-roller, and my apples with codling-moth and gouger. I spray for canker-worm and all other insects before and after the foliage appears, and think I have reduced the codling-moth. I dig the borers out with a wire and wash the tree with lye. Pick my apples into baskets, and sort into firsts, seconds, and culls. I sell in the orchard, and make cider of the culls. Do not dry any. I store some for winter market in a cave. Do not irrigate. Prices have been from forty cents to one dollar per bushel.

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A. D. CHAMBERS, Hartford, Lyon county: Have been in Kansas thirty-two years. Have 3500 apple trees; 1500 of them have been planted twenty-five years; 2000 of them six years. I prefer for market Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Winesap, and for family orchard would add Early Harvest, Red Astrachan, Maiden's Blush, and Rambo. Have discarded Yellow Bellflower because it won't bear; Milam, because it is too small; Rawle's Janet, off on color. Only a few varieties should be in a commercial orchard. I prefer bottom land; mine slopes to the north. Any soil is good, either clay or loam. I would set thrifty two-year-old trees in furrows. I have raised thousands of root grafts in the nursery, growing my own seedlings to graft on. I cultivate in corn until they begin to show fruit, then in millet twice; I have never cultivated the orchard without a crop. When the ground gets bad, break it up and put in millet to shade the ground. I have never used any windbreaks; plant my trees close, to protect each other from the wind. I use axle grease for rabbits, and have had very little trouble with borers. I prune in the early years to shape the tree; later, to remove surplus wood, and think it increases the size of the apple. I believe stable litter is beneficial; I have applied it only on heavy clay soil. I pasture my orchard to a slight extent with horses and cows. I do not gather the down apples, but let my stock gather them. I have sprayed with London purple for canker-worm and tent-caterpillar; I use a barrel and a wagon, from first of May on, and am only partially successful; I think I have reduced the codling-moth some. I pick with baskets and wagons, and pile the apples in the orchard. I sort into three classes--first, shipping; third, culls; second, betweens. As I sell to shippers at wholesale, I put in the first class as small ones as the contract will allow; the second class includes all that look salable, and I sell them in the home markets; I sell what culls I can, and make cider of the others. I do not ship any. My apples mostly go south. I tried shipping once, but it did not pay. I do not dry any, nor store any for winter. Have never irrigated. Prices vary from 20 cents to $1.25 per bushel, according to variety, time of year, etc. I use men and women for picking, and pay three cents per bushel.

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B. RONEY, Benedict, Wilson county: Have lived in Kansas since the fall of 1869; have 1400 apple trees, planted from six to twenty-seven years. For market I prefer Baldwin, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, Jonathan, Ben Davis; for family, Red June, Maiden's Blush, Winesap, Rawle's Janet, and Jonathan. I have discarded the Russets (the fruit is inferior), and Bellflower (the trees are not hardy). I prefer north-slope upland with deep limestone soil and clay subsoil. I plant thrifty three-year-old, not overgrown trees with good heads, thirty feet east and west, twenty feet north and south, to protect from the wind. I set in the spring, in a rye-field or stubble ground, running out furrows and putting in with a spade. I cultivate with a small stirring plow with one horse, for the furrows next the tree. I grow corn until the trees should bear, and then change to red clover, and mow to keep the weeds down. I believe windbreaks are essential, but care should be taken not to have many soft-wood trees near the orchard to breed insects. An elevation on the south or southwest will be found beneficial. For rabbits, wrap in the winter; for borers, wash with lime in the spring. Keep out all watersprouts; thin the top of the tree, so that the sun may penetrate; balance the top; cut out the center shoot--it pays. After trees begin to bear I would fertilize with stable litter. Hogs are good in the orchard in the spring to destroy insects, but should not be allowed to root much. I spray with London purple and Paris green when in full bloom [how about bees?], and again in ten days, and give a third spray a few days after, if any insects are on the trees. We have a good home market. For winter I find that Rawle's Janet and Romanite keep the best. Prices have ranged from forty to seventy-five cents per bushel.

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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 quantity. 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 classify 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.

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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 classes--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.

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