Chapter L: J. HAINES, Galena, Cherokee county: Has been in Kansas nineteen

years. Has an orchard of 2500 trees, fourteen years planted, averaging eighteen inches in diameter, planted for commercial purposes, and comprising Willow Twig, Ben Davis, and Winesap, which varieties he would also recommend for family orchard. Has tried and discarded Snow and Missouri Pippin, as they would not bear fruit; cannot tell why. Prefers alluvial soil, with clay subsoil susceptible of good drainage, south slope preferred. Cultivates always with plow, leaving a deep center furrow. Tries to eradicate all growth between the trees in a bearing orchard. Believes windbreaks are essential; uses maple. Prunes, to stimulate trunk and fruit growth. Fertilizes with wood ashes, and says they should be used on all soils that lack potash. Pastures his orchard in spring with calves and hogs, and believes it pays. Sprays April 1, April 30, and June 1, with London purple, copperas, Paris green, and Bordeaux mixture. Not fully successful, but believes he reduces the codling-moth. For borers he lixiviates the ground. This, he claims, kills by contact under the ground. Plow in fall in time to let the rains settle in, and too late to keep it from freezing; freeze them out. Sorts into three classes: Middling [fair], bad, and worse. Hand packed in barrels, stem down, best on top, and marked "First class." He sells at wholesale, sometimes in orchard. Feeds culls to stock. Has found Kansas City, Omaha and Denver to be the best markets. Dries apples on Fay drier, made in Cincinnati, for home use only, and not satisfactory. Stores apples for winter in bulk in cave, and finds Ben Davis the best keeper. For help he uses boys at fifty cents per day, and men at one dollar per day.

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A. J. SALTZMAN, Burrton, Harvey county: I have lived in Kansas thirty-one years. Have an apple orchard of 500 trees from one to twelve inches in diameter. For commercial orchard I would prefer Early Harvest, Maiden's Blush, Ben Davis, Cooper's Early White, and Jonathan; and for family orchard Early Harvest, Lawver, Jonathan, and Winesap. Have tried and discarded Willow Twig and Large Romanite on account of blight, and the fruit rots and specks. I prefer hilltop, with sandy loam and clay subsoil, and a north or northwest aspect. Prefer two-year-old trees, with good, thrifty roots, planted thirty feet apart each way. I cultivate my orchard to corn, potatoes, Kafir-corn and cane for five or six years, with plow and cultivator, and cease cropping when the orchard begins to bear. I plant bearing orchard to rye, oats, and artichokes, and then turn in hogs. Windbreaks are essential; would makes them of evergreens or Russian mulberries, planted four feet apart. I prune with a saw, pruning-hook, knife, and sometimes an ax, to give proper shape to the tree, and to let in air and light; I think it pays. I do not thin the fruit on the trees, but think it should be done. I fertilize my orchard with barn-yard litter, and think it beneficial; I would advise its use on all soils. I pasture my orchard after five or six years with hogs, and think it advisable and that it pays. My trees are troubled with root aphis, but not bad, and my apples with codling-moth. I do not spray. I hand-pick my apples, in baskets, or in a sack over the shoulder, and put them in barrels, boxes, or wagon. I sort into two classes: first, sound, for market or home use; second, for vinegar. I sort them as I pick, and drop the vinegar ones on the ground, and gather afterwards. I pack my apples in bushel boxes (that is the best way) while picking. I sell apples in the orchard; also wholesale, retail, and peddle. I make second- and third-grade apples into vinegar, or feed them to hogs. My best market is at home. Have tried distant markets, and found it sometimes paid. I do not dry any, and am successful at storing apples in bulk in a cellar; sometimes I bury them; I find Winesap, Limber Twig and Little Romanite keep best. We have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing from ten to fifteen per cent. of them. I do not irrigate, but think it would pay. Prices have been from forty cents to one dollar per bushel; dried apples from five to six cents per pound.

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J. B. SAXE, Fort Scott, Bourbon county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-nine years. Have an apple orchard of 800 trees from fifteen to twenty-seven years old. For commercial orchard I prefer Ben Davis and Willow Twig, and for family orchard would add Winesap and Jonathan. Have tried and discarded Baldwin, Yellow Bellflower, Maiden's Blush, Early Harvest, Sweet Bough, Bailey's Sweet, Roxberry Russet, Fall Strawberry, King of Tompkins County, and several Russian varieties; all are worthless. I prefer hilly land, with loam soil and clay subsoil, northeast slope. I prefer one- or two-year-old medium-sized trees, set twenty to thirty feet apart. Plant my orchard to corn, raspberries, and blackberries, using a plow and cultivator--a one-horse cultivator between the rows, for five or six years; cease cropping when the trees begin to bear. Windbreaks are not essential. I poison the rabbits, and am not bothered with borers. Prune a little with a pruning knife to keep the head open; think it pays, and is beneficial. Have never thinned apples while on the trees. I do not fertilize; our soil is rich enough; ashes or potash might be beneficial. I think hogs beneficial in an orchard. My trees are troubled with root aphis, and my apples with codling-moth and curculio. Pick apples by hand from a ladder into a bag. Sort into two classes, perfect and imperfect, from piles on the grass or ground. Pack my apples in barrels by hand, mark with my name, and haul to market in a spring wagon. Generally sell apples in the orchard, also wholesale; peddle the second and third grades, and make culls into cider for vinegar. Never dry any. I stored some in boxes in the cellar last fall, also buried some in the ground, and was successful. Found Limber Twig and Rawle's Janet kept best. We had to repack stored apples before marketing; lost about one-half of those in the cellar, but very few of those buried in the ground. Do not irrigate. Prices were about forty cents per bushel at wholesale in the fall on the trees.

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S. F. C. GARRISON, El Dorado, Butler county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-seven years; have an apple orchard of 1000 trees, twenty to twenty-five years old, ten to twelve inches in diameter. I prefer for commercial purposes Ben Davis, Winesap, King of Tompkins County, and Rawle's Janet; and for family orchard Maiden's Blush, Milam, Jonathan, and Sweet Bough. Have tried and discarded Keswick Codlin, Willow Twig and Dominie on account of blight. I prefer second bottom, reddish soil, with liver-red subsoil, and a north slope. I prefer two-year-old, short-trunk, smooth and round trees. In planting, plow both ways with a coulter and subsoiler, then dig out. I cultivate my orchard to corn for three or four years, using a plow; I cease cropping after eight years, and plant nothing in a bearing orchard. I use sulphur mixed with axle grease to protect against rabbits. For borers I use fish oil spurted in with sewing-machine oiler. I prune the under limbs to prevent hanging on the ground. It does not pay, and is not very beneficial. I thin Rawle's Janet apples when the smallest ones are as large as marbles. My trees are in mixed plantings. I fertilize with stable litter, and think it beneficial; but would not advise its use on all soils. Never pasture my orchard. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, root aphis, twig-borer, leaf-roller, and bark-louse, and my apples with curculio. I spray with London purple and strychnine when the leaves are small; think I have reduced the codling-moth. I pick my apples (from step-ladders where high) into baskets. Sort into three classes: cider, specked, and sound. We leave them in piles until they sweat, then dry and sort. I prefer two-and-one-half bushel barrels, packed with a nice layer on the bottom (this will be top when opened), then mark with the name of fruit, and haul to market by rail or wagon. I sell in orchard, wholesale, retail, and peddle, and make cider of the culls. My best markets are Wichita, Pueblo, Leadville, the Strip, and Eldorado. Have tried distant markets, but it does not pay.

I never dry any for market. I store some apples for winter market in bulk; am not very successful; find Winesap keeps the best. Have to repack stored apples before marketing; lose about ten per cent. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from twenty-five cents to one dollar per bushel; dried apples, four and one-half cents per pound. I employ young men, at from seventy-five cents to one dollar per day. I have sprayed carefully for three years, and am glad to report no worms this year [1898]. Winesap not full--too full and dry last year, Maiden's Blush full, Rawle's Janet very full, Sweet Bough full, Limber Twig full, Milam full, Ben Davis fair, Northern Spy fair, Little Romanite light, Jonathan light, Willow Twig and King (of Tompkins county) full, Talman Sweet full, and Pound Sweet full.

Trees must not be trimmed up too high, as is too much the practice. A low, broad top will hold the least sprinkle of rain longer, and the wind will not have much chance to dry the earth under the trees. There are millions of hair roots just at the surface, in the compost, or loose earth, to immediately absorb the moisture if wind and sun are kept off. The buds set better when the trunks are short, and kept as cool as possible, so that the sap can run freely to the terminal buds, and also make buds, when, if high and dry, no bud formation can occur. Trees should be short in trunk, broad top, and limbs nearly to the ground. No hogs nor calves should be allowed in the orchard, but all the chickens possible. Cut off all dead branches, and fill up vacancies. Trees should be two or three years old when set. When setting make a good large hole, and in the center make a hill or cone of earth. Then spread the roots out in their natural position, and after this fill in some earth and press lightly. Set two or three inches deeper than they grew in the nursery, trim close, and leave no acute forks. Compel the limbs to start at obtuse or right angles from the trunk; if they bend over to the north, anchor with string and stake. The art and science of horticulture are little studied in Kansas. It takes good judgment and a scientific turn of mind to be successful in orcharding. Chemistry, botany and physiology are especially necessary to make it a delightful work in life. We must run back to the original, which was no doubt far beyond anything we as yet have, or we could not improve at all. The beauty ran down as man did, and it will be a long time before perfection is reached.

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