Chapter 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-class, 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 class 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.

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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 classes; 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 32x32 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.

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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 grass 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 quantities. 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 classes--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 latitude 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.

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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.

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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 space 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.

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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 grass. 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.

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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.

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