Part 21

L. P. ASHCROFT, Shibboleth, Decatur county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-two years. Have 100 apple trees, eight to twelve years old, four to ten inches in diameter. I prefer for commercial purposes Ben Davis, Winesap, and Willow Twig. I prefer upland with a south slope. I plant two-year-old, low, bushy, stout-top trees. To set, I plow deep and dig deep holes, in the fall. I cultivate my orchard every year from May 1 to July 1, and late in the fall. I use the harrow in the spring, disc and harrow later on, and lister in the fall. I think windbreaks would be beneficial on the south, and would make them of buildings and sheds of all kinds. I am troubled with small borers in the limbs. I prune out the inside of trees to let sun and air through. I think it beneficial, and that it pays. I never thin apples; the wind does the thinning. My trees are in mixed plantings, and I believe would bear every year if they did not freeze. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter on top of heavy snows. I think it beneficial, if not too close to the trees. I would advise its use on all soils if applied at the right time and in the right manner. I do not pasture my orchard; it does not pay. My trees are troubled with small borers, and my fruit with some insects. I do not spray. I have used coal-oil for borers, but do nothing now. We pick our own fruit.

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W. D. STREET, Oberlin, Decatur county: I have resided in the state thirty-seven years. Have an apple orchard of fifty trees seven or eight years old, about six inches in diameter. My orchard is situated on low, bottom land. I prefer two-year-old trees, set in plowed land and dug holes. I plant my orchard to garden crops, corn, and potatoes. I plow shallow, and use a harrow and weed-cutter. I plant the same crops in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; mine are natural timber along the creek. I prune a little with knife and saw, to preserve shape; cannot say that it has been beneficial, or that it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees; it would probably benefit. I fertilize my orchard some with stable litter. I think it beneficial, as the land is heavily cropped with truck. I would not advise it on all soils. I pasture my orchard with cattle, horses, and hogs, but do not think it advisable. I have not sprayed yet, but intend to when my orchard is older. I pick my apples by hand. I store apples for home use. With a dam across a creek, I raise water into a pond, and irrigate. Seepage, percolation and capillary attraction do the rest.

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JAMES L. WILLIAMS, McDonald, Rawlins county: I have resided in Kansas nineteen years. Have an apple orchard of sixty trees, planted eight years; planted ten acres in 1895. I prefer for family orchard Jonathan, Rambo, Senator, Rawle's Janet, and Gano. I planted my orchard on a hillside; the small orchard is in the bottom; they have a clay subsoil, and slope in every direction, but would prefer a northern slope. I prefer three-year-old trees, set in holes dug four feet deep, five feet wide, filled in the bottom with soil hauled from the creek. [?] I cultivate my trees with a cultivator and harrow; I think the life of the tree depends on the cultivation, and that we will have to keep it up as long as the tree lives. I plant potatoes and turnips in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks would be a benefit, and should be made of Russian mulberry or red cedar, set in four or five rows around the orchard. For rabbits I rub axle grease on the trees. I commence pruning when I set the trees out, using a knife and saw, to keep the tops from getting too heavy and to give shape; I think it pays. Never have thinned the fruit while on the trees, but would if my trees should ever be overloaded; I think it would pay. I fertilize my orchard from the sheep corral; it keeps the ground moist and is food for the trees. Would not advise its use on bottom land, as the growth would be too rapid. I pasture my orchard with hogs, but do not think it advisable; it does not pay. My trees are troubled with grasshoppers and flathead borers. I dig borers out in the spring, then wash the tree with strong soap-suds, which I think eradicates all lice and insects that may be in the bark of the tree; it gives the tree a hearty, vigorous growth. I do not irrigate, but cultivate instead.

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J. R. CALDWELL, Oberlin, Decatur county: I have lived in Kansas thirteen years. Have an apple orchard of 110 trees, thirteen years old, six inches in diameter. For fall or winter market I prefer Winesap, Ben Davis, and Jonathan, and for summer, Cooper's Early White, Maiden's Blush, Red June, Winesap, Ben Davis, and Jonathan. Have tried and discarded Rawle's Janet; it is not a good bearer in this locality. I prefer upland, with a deep, rich loam, and an eastern slope. I prefer three-year-old trees, with lengthy bodies and not much top, set in holes dug three by three, one and one-half to two feet deep; fill the bottom with some of the same dirt. I cultivate my orchard to corn and potatoes ten or twelve years, using a cultivator and stirring plow; cease cropping after ten or twelve years. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of forest-trees, by planting or transplanting them. For rabbits I wrap the trees with corn-stalks. I prune to keep the limbs from rubbing; for any other reason it does not pay. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. My trees are planted in rows. I fertilize my orchard with barn-yard litter; think it beneficial, and that it would be good for all soils. I do not pasture my orchard; it is not advisable, and does not pay. My trees are troubled with flathead borer and tent-caterpillar, and my apples with codling-moth. I do not spray. I hand-pick my apples and sell them in our home market. I do not dry or store any. Do not irrigate. Price has been one dollar per bushel. Dried apples have been from five to six cents per pound.

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B. F. CAMPBELL, St. Francis, Cheyenne county: I have lived in Kansas since 1885. Have an apple orchard of 200 trees, from two to seven years planted. I prefer bottom land, subirrigated, that is sandy, with a northern aspect. I prefer one-year-old trees planted in rows twenty feet apart. I cultivate my orchard to vegetables as long and as often as I can, using a harrow; cultivate after every rain if possible, and the drier the ground, the oftener the better. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of cottonwood, as they make the finest growth with us. For rabbits I wrap the trees with cloth; have not been able to catch or poison the gophers yet. I prune to maintain low heads and to make shapely trees without forks, and think it beneficial. I never thin my fruit. Do not think it makes any difference whether trees are planted in blocks of one variety, or mixed up. I mulch my orchard to retain moisture; would not advise it on all soils, as the moles make their home in it and soon kill the trees. I do not pasture my orchard; do not think it advisable. The gophers have done more damage by cutting off the roots than all the other pests. Am also troubled with grasshoppers. Never have sprayed, but am going to this spring; will use the same chemicals as are used at the experiment station. I irrigate [sub]; can flood the ground, but don't need to; it is wet enough without.

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J. W. SOMER, Wilson, Ellsworth county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-two years; have an apple orchard of seventy-five trees. For all purposes I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, and Smith's Cider. Have tried and discarded Arkansas Black, Lawver, Jonathan, and Rawle's Janet. I prefer limestone bottom land with southeast slope. I prefer two-year-old trees three to five feet tall. I cultivate my orchard two or three years with a common stirring plow and cultivator, and plant nothing. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of forest-trees, walls, or Osage hedge. They ought to be planted before starting the orchard. For rabbits I wrap my trees with corn-stalks. I prune only to make trees symmetrical. Do not thin my apples. I mulch my trees; think it beneficial, but would not advise it on all soils. Do not pasture my orchard. Trees are troubled with twig-borer.

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J. D. GRIFFITHS, Kanopolis, Ellsworth county: Have lived in Kansas eighteen years; have an apple orchard of thirty trees. Have some trees planted on bottom land. I cultivate my orchard to sweet corn as long as the trees will admit, using a plow and a one-horse, five-tooth cultivator. I prune to give trees good shape. I fertilize my orchard with well-rotted stable litter. Do not pasture my orchard. Am troubled with no insect but borers. I spray the trees when leafing out, and once a week for five or six weeks after that time, to ward off the insects. I probe for insects not affected by spraying. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from fifty cents to one dollar per bushel. Dried apples have been about eight cents per pound.

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M. E. WELLS, Athol, Smith county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-six years; have an orchard of twelve acres, from five to fourteen years. For commercial purposes I prefer Ben Davis and Missouri Pippin; and for family orchard Early Harvest and Winesap. I prefer hilltop of thin clay, resting on yellow silt, with a northern slope. I prefer two-year-old, stocky trees planted in dead furrows. I cultivate my orchard to corn as long as there is space enough between the rows; use two five-tooth cultivators lashed together, and cease cropping after twelve years. Windbreaks are not essential. I protect against rabbits and borers by eternal vigilance in hunting them. I prune by cutting out limbs, so they will not crowd each other; think it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. My trees are in mixed plantings. I do not fertilize my orchard; I think shallow cultivation is better. I do not pasture my orchard with anything excepting chickens. Trees are troubled with tent-caterpillar; some worm affects my apples. I sometimes spray with lime and copperas, and have not been very successful. Insects not affected by spraying I dig out with penknife and wire. I pick my apples by hand from a common ladder; sort into three classes--first, smooth and free from worms; second, free from worms; the balance in the third grade. I sell apples in the orchard; also retail them. I handle the best apples very carefully, one at a time, and place in crates. Keep the second and third-grade apples at home; feed the culls to hogs. My best market is in the orchard; never tried distant markets. Never dry any. I store apples for winter in a cellar on shelves, one layer of fruit on each shelf--am successful; Ben Davis keeps best. Never tried artificial cold storage. Do not irrigate. Price has been fifty cents per bushel. I employ women, because they handle the fruit with more care than men do; I pay one dollar per day.

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ISAAC CLARK, Oberlin, Decatur county: I have lived in Kansas ten years. I have 1250 apple trees, eight years planted, as fine as they can be. My market varieties are: Winesap, Missouri Pippin, Rawle's Janet, and Ben Davis, and for family I added Maiden's Blush, Red Astrachan, and Sweet June. I prefer clay soil, on hilltop; any slope is good. Plant trees in good condition and fine appearance, on ground plowed deep and disced just as deeply. I cultivate very often with five-tooth cultivator, and never quit. Every third year I plow with a one-horse diamond plow. I raised melons for the first three years; after that nothing. I have no use for windbreaks. I tie with corn-stalks, to protect against rabbits. I prune very little, to form the top, with knife and saw; keep straggling branches out. I use very little fertilizer; only on thin soil. I never pasture the orchard. Have some twig-borers and leaf-crumplers. I have never sprayed yet; it may soon be necessary. I have kept my trees tied up with corn-stalks for six years; the bodies are healthy; no sun-scald and no borers. My best market is at home. I have stored some for winter, in barrels in a cave, and find that the Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and Rawle's Janet keep best, the latter keeping until July. I have been able to sell in the spring at fifty cents per peck.

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JOHN M. C. KROENLIN, Lincoln, Lincoln county: I have resided in Kansas twenty-one years. Have an apple orchard of 178 trees, from four to fourteen years old, three to twelve inches in diameter. For market I prefer Winesap and Missouri Pippin, and for family use Missouri Pippin, Cooper's Early White, and Winesap. I prefer bottom land, with a black loam soil and sandy subsoil; I believe a level location best. For planting I prefer two-year-old trees, set in holes dug three feet square and one and one-half feet deep; throw out all soil and use good surface soil; never apply water to the roots. I cultivate my orchard until the trees are seven years old, using a disc, and then a harrow to level the ground, and plant no crop. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of Russian mulberries, on south and west sides. I have cottonwood windbreaks on the east and north of my orchard; those on the east protect the trees from the morning sun, thereby lessening the danger when there is frost on the buds, and those on the north I keep trimmed high, so as to admit of a free circulation of air, which is a protection against frost. For rabbits I wrap my trees with corn-stalks, which I think the best way. I prune with an ax, knife, and saw, and think it beneficial and that it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. My trees are in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard with well-rotted cow-stable litter, which I think has been beneficial. I do not pasture my orchard; I do not think it advisable. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, but not bad, and my apples with codling-moth. I spray after the blossoms fall, with London purple (which will kill every time), for canker-worm. I stand on step-ladder and pick my apples by hand. I sell them in the orchard, at retail, and feed the culls to the chickens. Lincoln is my best market. Have never tried distant markets. Don't dry any; it does not pay. I am successful in storing apples in bulk in a cellar, and find Winesap and Missouri Pippin keep best. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from ten cents to two dollars per bushel, the same season; dried apples four cents per pound.

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J. H. SAYLES & SON, Norcatur, Decatur county: Have been in Kansas fifteen years; have 300 apple trees, eight years planted, six inches in diameter. For market I planted Ben Davis, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, Winter Duchess (?), and I added for family use Jonathan, Duchess of Oldenburg, and Red June. I have tried and discarded the Mann, Walbridge, Baldwin, Northern Spy, and Red Astrachan. I have black, northwest Kansas prairie soil, with northeast slope. Our well is seventeen feet deep, and fruit never fails. Plant low, healthy, two-year-old trees, in deep furrows, plowed parallel with the slope, putting the trees twenty by thirty feet. I have raised some splendid seedlings. I draw on large quantities of stable litter. I grow nothing in the orchard; cultivate with double shovel, drag, and hoe, keeping the ground flat. I believe windbreaks are essential, and would make them of Russian mulberry and white elm, set one row of elm one year old, twelve to twenty-four inches, then two rows of Russian mulberry six feet apart, alternating. For rabbits I fence with wire. I prune with knife and saw, thinning out the tops, and think it pays. I believe in thinning the fruit as soon as it is large enough, and would plant mixed varieties. Our Jonathan never bore until the Ben Davis near by bloomed. I scatter stable litter as for grain, and it is beneficial, as trees not fertilized die out here; it is good on all kinds of soil. Never pasture the orchard. We have some leaf-roller, fall web-worm, and codling-moth, but have never sprayed any. We dig borers out with a wire. We pick by hand, and sort into three grades: numbers 1 and 2, and cider stock. We never sell in the orchard, but retail our best in one-bushel crates. Our culls we feed out to farm stock early. Our best market is at home and west; never tried distant markets. Have never tried drying or storing for winter. Do not irrigate, but cultivate often. Prices range from 60 cents to $1.25 per bushel. We use some farm help at fifteen to eighteen dollars per month.

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W. J. BRUMAGE, Beloit, Mitchell county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-four years; have an orchard of 1000 very large apple trees, from twelve to twenty years old. For commercial purposes would prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, Duchess of Oldenburg, Early Harvest, Red June, Willow Twig, Maiden's Blush, Cooper's Early White, and Pewaukee, and for family orchard Ben Davis, Winesap, Early Harvest, Maiden's Blush, and Duchess of Oldenburg. I prefer hilltop, clay loam, with northeast slope. I plow a ditch and set two-year-old trees a little deeper than they were in the nursery. Have tried root-grafts and seedlings; were no good. I cultivate with garden-truck until twelve or fourteen years old, using a plow to stir the ground, and seed bearing orchard to grass. I use no windbreaks. I prune to keep the tree from getting bushy; I think it beneficial. I never thin my fruit. Cannot see any difference in trees whether planted in blocks or mixed up. Use no fertilizer, and would not advise its use. Do not pasture orchard; do not think it advisable. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, flathead borers, twig-borer, and leaf roller. Codling-moth and curculio trouble my fruit. I spray with London purple, using a pump, just after the blossom falls, for the codling-moth, and think I have reduced them. I pick my fruit by hand, and pack in barrels. I sort into two classes, good and bad. Have sold them in the orchard; sometimes retail; my best market is home; have never tried distant markets. I make vinegar of the culls. Never dry any. Store some for winter market in bulk in a cave; am successful; Winesap, Willow Twig and Ben Davis keep the best. Have never tried artificial cold storage. Have to repack stored apples before marketing; we lose about one-fourth. Do not irrigate. Prices average about fifty cents per bushel.

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JOHN E. DAVID, Winona, Logan county: Have lived in Kansas thirteen years; have an apple orchard of ninety trees from seven to ten years old. I prefer level land, black loam with a clay subsoil, and an eastern slope. I prefer thrifty, healthy trees, set in holes three feet deep. I cultivate my orchard to beans and melons, using a cultivator and plow for six years; then cease cropping. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of honey-locust, planted in rows on north [?] and south. For protection from rabbits I use wire screening, and dig the borers out. I prune my trees with a knife to give big growth, and think it beneficial. I never thin my apples while on the trees. My trees are planted in blocks. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter; think it beneficial and would advise it out here. I never pasture my orchard. Am not troubled with insects. Do not spray. Do not irrigate.

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P. F. JOHNSON, Oberlin, Decatur county: Have lived in Kansas seven years; Have 200 apple trees, four to eight years old, and seven to fifteen feet high. For commercial purposes I prefer Ben Davis. For family use, Red June, Winesap, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Jonathan, and Ben Davis. I prefer bottom land, with deep, black loam and clay subsoil, north slope. I plant two-year-old trees, in rows north and south, as close as the different varieties will allow. I cultivate as long as the trees live, with plow and cultivator, allowing them to go no deeper than three inches. I plant the young orchard to beans, pumpkins, and squashes; the same in a bearing orchard, and never cease cropping. Windbreaks are essential. I would make them of Russian mulberry and ash, and keep them cultivated. I tie dry corn-stalks around young trees to protect from rabbits. Never prune. Never thin. I use stable litter as a fertilizer and mulch; I think it advisable in this latitude. I pasture my orchard in fall and winter with hogs, and think it advisable. My trees are troubled with roundhead borer, twig-borer, and grasshoppers. I do not spray. Have never irrigated, but intend to soon. Prices have been from $1 to $1.50 per bushel.

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W. B. STOCKARD, Beloit, Mitchell county: I have lived in the state since 1871. Have an apple orchard of 800 trees. For all purposes I prefer Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Jonathan, and Jefferis. Have tried and discarded Ben Davis and Limber Twig. I prefer bottom land with a clay subsoil; southeast slope. I prefer two-year-old trees, planted twenty-four feet apart, then thin them out when they crowd. I cultivate my orchard to corn and potatoes, using a cultivator and drop harrow, and cease cropping when about six years old; plant nothing in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are not essential. To protect the trees from rabbits I rub with rabbits' blood, and whitewash for borers. I prune very little; remove dead limbs, and clip the others; think it beneficial if not too severe. I do not thin my fruit while on the trees; it does not pay. It is not necessary to set trees in mixed plantings when you keep bees. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter; think corn-stalks best, it has proven beneficial; would advise its use on all soils. Do not pasture my orchard; is not advisable; does not pay. My trees are troubled with tent-caterpillar, bud moth, root aphis, bag-worm, roundhead borer, woolly aphis, twig-borer, oyster-shell bark-louse, and my apples with curculio. I spray just before the bud swells, and after they bloom, with white arsenic; sal soda and lime for canker-worms and moths; think I have reduced the codling-moth. I hand-pick my apples; sort into two classes. Sell in the orchard, wholesale, retail, and peddle; keep the best apples at home; make vinegar of the second and third grades, and culls. Never tried distant markets. Find a ready market for dried apples; but it does not pay. I store apples for winter use in a circular arched cave, in barrels; find Winesap and Missouri Pippin keep best. I do not irrigate. Price has been fifty cents per bushel.