DISTRICT No. 1—APPLE TREES, 1897.

Bearing.Not bearing.Total.
Atchison county150,02470,691220,715
Brown county160,58357,488218,071
Clay county89,72526,087115,812
Cloud county68,83224,45193,283
Dickinson county110,35131,926142,277
Doniphan county156,661163,701320,362
Douglas county159,706120,375280,081
Franklin county126,90670,831197,737
Geary county39,14819,35758,505
Jackson county123,48584,533208,018
Jefferson county120,50986,837207,346
Johnson county88,39569,709158,104
Leavenworth county199,212216,015415,227
Marshall county157,27966,556223,835
Miami county101,54182,069183,610
Morris county93,18245,555138,737
Nemaha county140,27862,535202,813
Osage county246,26556,478302,743
Ottawa county40,53830,14960,687
Pottawatomie county117,23450,079167,313
Republic county128,07658,662186,738
Riley county103,05344,640147,693
Saline county74,64824,40099,048
Shawnee county207,779130,720338,499
Wabaunsee county108,94250,195159,137
Washington county152,76880,194232,962
Wyandotte county112,54179,903192,444
Total in district3,377,6611,894,1365,271,797
Acreage, about600,000300,000900,000

Fred Wellhouse & Son: Have been in Kansas since 1859, and grow no fruit but apples, having 117 acres in Leavenworth county, planted in 1876; 160 acres in Miami county, planted in 1878; 160 acres in Leavenworth county, planted in 1879; 800 acres in Osage county, planted in 1889, 1890, and 1891; 300 acres in Leavenworth county, planted in 1894; 140 acres in Leavenworth county, planted in 1896—total of about 100,000 trees, set out from two to twenty-two years. We prefer for commercial orchard, Jonathan, Missouri Pippin, Ben Davis, Winesap, and York Imperial, and for family orchard would add to these, Red June, Chenango, Maiden's Blush, Huntsman, and Rome Beauty. We tried sixteen acres of Cooper's Early White, but have discarded them as unprofitable, shy bearers. We consider upland the best if soil is of good quality. We have them on all slopes; can see no particular difference where soil is equal. We prefer rich, black soil (vegetable mold), clay subsoil. We plant in furrows, the rows thirty-two feet apart, the trees sixteen feet apart in the rows, running north and south.

The best trees to plant are two years old, the lowest limb or limbs not over two feet from the ground. We grow most of our trees from our own root grafts. Cultivation: We cultivate for the first five years, by throwing the soil first to and then from the trees, with a single or a double turning plow, and grow only corn. At five years from planting we sow the ground to clover, and this with other growths, such as weeds, is left on the ground as a mulch and fertilizer. We have never used any windbreaks at any of our orchards. Think they would be an advantage in some localities. We use traps for rabbits, knife and wire for borers. We prune very little, such as removing broken limbs. We have never fertilized any of our orchards. We do not believe it pays to pasture orchards, and do not allow it.

The insects that trouble us most are: Canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, fringed-wing bud moth, handmaid-moth or yellow-necked caterpillar, roundheaded borer and the tussock-moth caterpillar on our trees; and codling-moth, gouger and tree cricket on and in our fruit. We spray annually, using a horse-power machine, illustrated in former reports of the State Horticultural Society, for the leaf-eating insects named, using London purple and clear water, sometimes adding lime. We spray before the blossom opens, for bud moth, canker-worm and tent-caterpillar, and after the petals have fallen for codling-moth, tussock-moth, and fall web-worm. We have been successful except as to bud moth and fall web-worm. We believe we have greatly reduced the codling-moth by spraying, and we know we have destroyed the canker-worm. Have never successfully combated borers, excepting with knife and wire. Fall web-worms are burned in the tree with a gasoline torch, or the small limbs with webs are removed and burned. We have as yet found no particular method for fighting the bud moth successfully.

We gather our apples by hand in common two-bushel seamless sacks, used in the same manner as for sowing grain. A strap of heavy leather is attached, making it easy for the shoulder. A hook and ring are also put on to facilitate the removal of the sack when emptying. We prefer common straight ladders, with sides from sixteen to twenty inches apart at the bottom and six inches at the top, rounds fourteen inches apart. We use bushel boxes for hauling from the orchard to packing-house. We sort into three grades: No. 1, No. 2, and culls. No. 1's are all sound and firm apples, of about from two and one-fourth to two and one-half inches in diameter, the size of the smallest depending on the variety. We put in the No. 2 grade those that have any defects barring them from the first grade, yet they make a good second-class for immediate use; we also pack in this grade any sound apples that run uniformally small.

Of all packages tried, we prefer and use the three-bushel barrel, 171/8 inch head and 281/2 inch stave. When one head is removed, the barrel is turned over and a rap with the hand removes all trash. If we are packing a fine grade of fruit, we put a piece of white paper, cut a little less than the diameter of the barrel, in before facing. Barrels are double-faced or plated. We are careful to have the barrels rocked or shaken often while being filled. The name of variety and our trade-mark is put on the barrel with stencil or rubber stamp. No. 1's and 2's are hauled to shipping station in barrels; culls in bulk in ordinary farm wagon. We have never sold our crop in the orchard; always preferred to have it picked and packed under our own supervision. Our apples have been sold in car lots. Firsts and seconds have gone to wholesale dealers. Culls we have evaporated, sold to men who evaporate, to cider-mills, and to dealers who handle bulk apples.

For drying, we use the New York hop kiln, Rival No. 2 parers, and upright bleachers, all of which have been reasonably satisfactory. We believe them the best we can get, considering the class of evaporated fruit in demand. White stock is best handled in fifty-pound boxes; chops, peelings and cores in sacks. We always found a ready market for dried fruit. Some years it paid well.

We have wintered only in cold-storage plants, always in barrels, and it has been profitable. Ben Davis and Winesap have kept best, with Missouri Pippin a close second. Jonathan keeps well under proper conditions. If kept as late as March, it is generally necessary to repack, but not always. Our greatest loss has been on Jonathan, which in some instances, when kept late in the season, has reached ten per cent.

We have never irrigated or watered any part of our orchards.

Prices have ranged as follows with us: For No. 1, from $1.50 to $4; and No. 2, 90 cents to $2 per barrel. Culls have brought from 25 cents to 60 cents per 100 pounds; evaporated apples from 4 to 13 cents per pound; all these free on board.

A. E. Houghton, Weltbote, Washington county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-nine years; have 100 apple trees, fifteen years old, twelve inches in diameter. For commercial and family orchards, I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, Rawle's Janet, Huntman's Favorite, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Rambo, and Jonathan. Have tried and discarded Dominie, Roman Stem, and Bellflower; the latter on account of shy bearing. Think bottom land, black, rich loam, and north aspect, the best. I prefer three-year-old, short, stout-bodied trees—the shorter the better—with limbs as low as they will grow. I cultivate my orchard to corn, potatoes or vines as long as it is possible to do the work. I use a plow, cultivator, and one-horse double-shovel plow. I cease cropping when they begin to bear, and plant to clover. I consider windbreaks essential; would not grow an orchard without one, and would use Osage orange, ash, Russian mulberry, or box-elder, planted in several rows on south and west.

I wrap my trees with corn-stalks to protect from rabbits, and wash them with strong soapsuds, for borers, in May and June. I prune a great deal to let the sun, light and air in; I think it beneficial and that it pays. I never thin; but think it would be beneficial when the apples are large enough to tell the good ones from the bad. I think it advisable to use fertilizers on poor land. I never pasture my orchard under any circumstances whatever: do not think it advisable. My trees are bothered with borers. Some worm troubles my apples. I do not spray.

I pick into a sack over the shoulder, as for sowing wheat. I sort into two classes as I pick, to avoid handling again, putting the sound, hand-picked in one pile and the windfalls in another; cover them with hay and let them stay out as long as I dare, then put them in the cellar; but the cellar is too warm; think an outdoor cellar or cave would be better; would like to put them in cold storage, which is far the best. I sell my apples in the orchard, or any way I can get the most for them; generally take them to town and sell them. I sell my second and third grades at home; feed the culls to the hogs. My best markets are Washington and Greenleaf. I have never tried distant markets. Never dry any. I store some apples in boxes, barrels, and bulk; am not very successful. I find that Winesap and Rawle's Janet keep best. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from fifty to seventy-five cents per bushel. There is not much sale for dried apples. We do most of our own work.

Edwin Taylor, Delaware township, Wyandotte county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-seven years. Have about 5000 apple trees aged from eight to twelve years. The best varieties of apples for commercial orchards are not many. No one variety could be named which would be best for all locations or conditions. The Ben Davis is most largely planted in the West. Jonathan, Missouri Pippin, Willow Twig, Park's Keeper, are all valuable sorts. There are others. A family orchard is the most important orchard a farmer plants. It should contain a small number of trees and a large number of varieties. Two of a kind are a plenty. There should be at least twenty kinds. That will allow for a new variety to ripen in its season every two weeks or less in summer and fall and every three weeks during the winter. They should begin with the earliest and finish with the very longest keeper. These varieties will overlap, so that the farmer will almost always have two sorts to choose from. There should be sweet apples among them—particularly winter sweets.

The names, characteristics, qualities, description, etc., of the twenty to thirty varieties that make up an ideal orchard would require a long chapter, if the subject was fully treated. Beginners in tree buying should be cautioned not to let the nurseryman run in half a dozen trees of each kind for the family orchard on them. Two trees of a kind are plenty, particularly as the surplus of the family orchard commonly goes to waste. The names should be carefully registered, so there will be no wondering what an apple is when it begins to bear. You can't keep company satisfactorily with an apple that you don't know the name of, any better than you can an unknown man.

The best place to keep these family apples is in a dugout, in the side of a bank if possible, at all events good and deep, with the door at the north, and a good blow-hole in the south end. I don't know much about soils or location. I found myself in possession of some Kaw river timbered hills, clay soil carrying some sand; not good for much else; so I planted them—tops, sides, and draws—with apple trees, which have done well on the tops of the hills, sides of the hills, and in the valleys between the hills. Am inclined to suspect there is a great deal of gammon written about "slope" and "expanse" for orchards. My conclusion is that that is a good slope which you happen to have. Trees growing in the Kaw bottoms themselves, I observe, thrive and bear. The only cultivation I have ever given trees has been such as they got by being component parts of a corn-field, except that I have mainly given the tree rows extra cultivation, keeping them clean of grass and weeds. My orchards are now seeded to clover; clover is not valuable, for its own sake, among trees, but the trees thrive with it. Its greatest use, so far as I can see, is to make you mow the orchard where it is twice during the season. I prefer to stop cultivation in orchards when they are six years old.

I have no knowledge of windbreaks, but I have had a great deal of "mechanical destruction" done by borers and rabbits. Both these pests are good "mechanics" in their way and willing to work. I have the borers hunted spring and fall. Small trees I have protected from rabbits by stalks, paper, or veneering. Rabbits are not hard to head off, but they won't let a case go by default. Some people depend upon traps, dogs, guns, poison, cats, washes, wagon grease and liver to keep the rabbits away. I have known all of these to fail, but I have never known a tree well tied up with corn-stalks to suffer from "mechanical destruction" via the rabbit route, unless the string broke. There is no law against having a good string. The only pruning I have ever done has been to take out water sprouts. I don't know whether it paid or not. But I like the looks of a tree better without the pompadour effect a top full of sprouts gives it. Never have thinned apples; orchards here are self-thinners. By picking time the fruit is fully half on the ground and commonly not too much on the trees. Have never used manure or any fertilizer on apple trees. I never pastured an orchard but once. One trial cured me. I judge that one trial is nearly always enough. It is not advisable to pasture orchards, not even with hogs. The greatest pest we have is the apple worm—son, I am told, of the codling-moth. Have made no effort to check it by spraying, or otherwise.

I pick apples by hand; drop them into a sack hung over the shoulder; when the sack is full, it is emptied onto a sorting table. Make two classes of fruit: No. 1 and culls. Have never used any package but the barrel. Prefer the full-sized flour barrel. Fill barrel full enough to prevent rattling, when head is pressed in; mark faced head with variety, quality, and my name and address. Have never sold crop in orchard; often sell culls there. Have never sold a greater amount than one car-load at one time; have sold as little as one peck. The best market is sometimes at one place, sometimes at another. Minneapolis is the most distant market I have ever tried. Have mostly put my apples in cold storage. About one time out of three they have kept well. The fault was not in the apples; cold storage is either not understood or frequently mismanaged. Cold-storage people should be made to guarantee their work!—should not be paid for apples that are not delivered in the spring. Cold-storage rates (fifty cents per barrel) are absurdly high. I use male help, young and old, good and bad. Help commonly hard to get here in the fall. Wages ordinarily one dollar per day, without board.

C. D. Martindale, Scranton, Osage county: I have been on this place thirteen years, and since coming here have set every tree now on it. Trees that I set out in the spring of 1885 measure six to ten inches in diameter. In 1895 I put out 350 apple trees; in 1896 I planted 250 more, part of them were three- and four-year-old, when set. I lost only thirteen out of the 600. A few of the Missouri Pippins bore fruit last year. I consider the following varieties, in the order named, best for commercial orchard: Ben Davis, Jonathan, Winesap, Grimes's Golden Pippin; and for family use I would add Maiden's Blush, Cooper's Early White, Missouri Pippin, and Rawle's Janet. I have tried and discarded Smith's Cider and Lowell, as they blight too much. I prefer bottom land if it is properly drained, as it is apt to be richer and the trees will not suffer as much in a dry season—black loam, with a porous subsoil, to let the surplus water soak away. I think a northern slope best, as the trees do not suffer as much from the sun on hot summer days. Apple trees have done best for me on a black loam underlaid with a porous subsoil that will take the surplus water and still hold moisture in summer.

I plant by plowing light furrows (thirty-four feet apart) across the lay of the ground, then plowing two or four furrows together up and down the slope thirty-four feet apart, and run a lister in this big furrow, breaking up the ground as deeply as possible. I dip the roots of my trees in lye water, using one pound carbonate of lye to eight gallons of water. Then fill in with a spade around the roots, being careful not to leave any holes for mice to nest in. Two- or three-year-old trees, with roots and top well balanced, no forks to split down when the tree gets older, bark smooth and good color, I consider best. I prefer piece-root to whole-root grafts. My experience is that we get better trees on piece roots, as the union is lower down in the ground and the scion throws out roots, which makes the trees healthy and not wholly dependent on seedling roots. I cultivate my orchard till ten or twelve years old, and keep all weeds and grass away, using an eight-inch plow with one horse next to the trees and backfurrow to every other row; then use two horses and fourteen-inch plow for the middles. The next year I backfurrow to the rows left the year before; in this way we have no large back or dead furrows, but keep the ground level. In cultivating I use a fourteen-tooth Peerless harrow each side of the row, and cultivate the rest with two-horse cultivator; then use a good sharp hoe close to the trees. Corn is the best crop to raise among young trees, as it acts as a windbreak and a partial shade. After an orchard gets to bearing, seed to red clover. I would change from corn to clover eight or nine years after setting.

Windbreaks are essential. I would have them on the south and west sides of the orchard, at least. I would make them of evergreen, Osage orange, or mulberry. I would not plant black walnut, cottonwood, or maple, as they are injurious to apple trees. Plant peach trees between the apple trees; they grow fast, and protect the apple until large enough to stand the winds. The best thing I have found to keep rabbits, mice, etc., off the trees is a protector made of five lath two feet long, woven with wire; they can be left on summer and winter, as sunlight and air can pass through to the bark and keep it healthy and keep the sun from scalding the bark; it also keeps the borers and the whippletree from doing much damage; they can be left on until the trees outgrow them. I cut out all limbs that are liable to rub each other at any future time, and all limbs that are liable to split down as the tree gets older; I also trim high enough to let a small horse walk under the limbs. I take off the back pad while working among the trees, so it will not be catching on the limbs; I think that it pays, and is beneficial. I have not thinned the fruit while on the trees. My trees are planted in alternate rows of different kinds, so I cannot tell what is best, blocks or mixed. I use all the barn-yard litter broadcast that I can get, and wish I had more. I shall plow under a good crop of red clover about every other year, and seed again the same year to clover, as I think it beneficial; I would do the same on all lands that I have yet tried. I do not let horses or cattle over one year old pasture in the orchard. I let calves and small pigs have access to the orchard, as they will eat up a great many wormy apples that drop, and help keep down the weeds. I think it advisable to pasture with young stock, and that it pays.

My apple trees are troubled with canker-worm, twig-borer, and leaf-crumpler. The codling-moth troubled my apples some last year. I have not tried spraying as yet. I have found borers in a few trees that were out in the grass near the fence. I pick my apples by hand; using step-ladders for the lower limbs, and longer ladders, wide at the bottom and very narrow at the top, for the upper limbs. While picking in the inside of a tree, I use a half-bushel sack made to hang on a limb, and so arranged that it can be let to the ground and emptied without getting out of the tree. I make three grades of my apples: First, good size, smooth, free from worms, and good calyx; second, apples under size, a little specked and wormy; third, culls. I have been sorting from the pile, but think I shall use a table made with the back end the higher, and the top made of heavy canvas without end, and passing over rollers at each end, so the apples can be brought in reach without handling them; then I would arrange my barrels so that the apples can be placed in them without bruising. I prefer the three-bushel barrel to ship in; but for handling I want a one-bushel box with handholes in the ends. I would pack the barrels as tight as possible, and then mark the name of variety, grade and name of grower on it. I would ship them by fast freight or express.

Sometimes I sell in the orchard. I have generally sold by retail and peddled, as I have a good set of customers. I can do as well to sell direct to the consumer as to sell at wholesale. I sell second grade to any one that will buy. I feed the culls to cattle and hogs, and let the hens have all they want. I have had a market near home for all I have grown; may have to look further when all my trees bear. I have not tried distant markets. What I have tried took all the profits. I do not think it pays to dry apples, unless on an extensive scale. I store my apples for winter market in a dry cellar. I pack in both barrels and boxes while in the cellar; prefer boxes, as they are easier to handle and sort from. I have not been as successful as I would like, but think I have done as well as many apple-growers have with the number of trees I have. The Ben Davis, Winesap and Janet have kept the best for me. I have not tried artificial cold storage. If apples are held any length of time, I repack, so as to be sure they are up to grade. I do not lose over two per cent. In the fall apples sold at about thirty cents per bushel, and through the winter fifty to eighty cents per bushel. I employ careful men to pick and handle my fruit. I pay from fifteen dollars to eighteen dollars a month and board.

S. Reynolds, Lawrence, Douglas county: I have lived in Kansas forty-three years; have an apple orchard planted from two to forty years. I planted my first orchard in 1858, and, not knowing anything about what sorts would be suitable for Kansas, I had to rely entirely on what the Missouri nurserymen recommended. Among the sorts planted which proved failures were Yellow Bellflower, Fulton Strawberry, White Winter Pearmain, Baldwin, the Russets and some others. Winesap, Rawle's Janet, Dominie and White Bellflower all did fairly well. Of all the sorts the Winesap has been the most profitable. If I had planted that first orchard chiefly to Winesaps, the cash receipts would have been more than double. My later experience and observations prove that the Missouri Pippin is the most profitable apple to grow for the market, the Winesap and Ben Davis following next in order. For a family orchard, I prefer Early Harvest, Maiden's Blush, Jonathan, and Winesap. I prefer second bottom, with a rich soil and a porous subsoil. I prefer two-year-old, vigorous trees, set in rows two rods apart. Use a potato hook.

I consider the best plan of planting is to throw two furrows together, and plant on this double thickness of surface soil; the roots will luxuriate in this bed of fertile soil and with proper care the tree will make a vigorous growth. Plant early in the spring, before the buds start. I cultivate my orchard with a disc harrow followed by a common harrow, until they begin to bear; plant corn, potatoes or other hoed crop in a young orchard. Seed the bearing orchard to clover. Windbreaks are not essential in eastern Kansas. For rabbits I wrap the young trees; dig borers out. Pruning should be done at the time of planting. After that give the tree all the top it can grow. Never fear but the roots will keep pace with the top. Remember that every time you cut out a large limb you threaten the life of the tree. Give the tree plenty of room, so that the roots will not overreach each other. The moisture in the soil is only sufficient for one set of roots. About two rods apart is the proper distance. I prune with a knife to keep the limbs from crossing. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees, they usually thin themselves. My Ben Davis and Missouri Pippins are in mixed planting. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter; I think it beneficial, and would advise its use on all soils after the trees begin to bear. I pasture my orchard in the fall after the fruit is gathered, with horses. I cannot see any injury. I never let horned cattle in.

My trees are troubled with root aphis and roundhead borers. I do not spray. I find that all apples must be gathered before they are quite ripe if we want them to keep well. In order to have them in the best condition for keeping they must be picked without bruises; I hand-pick mine in a sack over the shoulder. They must be kept perfectly cool and at an even temperature. This of course can be done by placing them in cold storage. I sort from a table in the orchard into two classes, large and medium. Pack in barrels, mark with grade, and haul to market. I sell apples in the orchard, generally wholesale them; sell the best to shippers. Sell the culls for cider. My best markets are west and north. I have tried distant markets, through agents, and found it paid. I do not dry any apples, but sell many low-grade apples to the evaporating factory. Do not store any; sell in the fall to shippers. Do not irrigate. Prices have been from one dollar per barrel up. Dried apples from four to six cents per pound. I employ young men at one dollar per day. The profits from a good apple orchard are more than those from any other crop which requires no more labor and expense. The profits from one good crop of apples are more than from three crops of wheat or corn; but apple-growing, as well as the growing of all other kinds of fruit, requires constant, patient labor and attention, in order to be successful, and even then the money will not come in with a great rush. In conclusion, I would say, that the business of growing fruit is much more certain of success than that of mercantile business. It has been ascertained from actual statistics that, of every 100 merchants, fifty utterly fail in business, forty are only moderately successful, and of the remaining ten only one will become rich.

W. J. Griffing, Manhattan, Kan.: Were that old fisherman, Izaak Walton, alive to-day, and an enthusiastic fruit-grower of eastern Kansas, he would probably express himself in the book he would write, "The Complete Horticulturist," that "doubtless God might have made a better apple country than this, but doubtless He never did." If there is a strip of land in the United States equal in size to the eastern third of Kansas able to grow as many and as fine apples as this particular strip, it has yet to be discovered. Our own experience in this line dates back just forty years. In 1858 the old family account-book shows the purchase by my father of three dollars' worth of apple trees (the number not given). This amount judiciously expended now would secure considerable nursery stock; but the same record shows the purchase, the month previous, of wheat at two dollars per bushel; sugar, six pounds for one dollar; flour, five dollars per hundredweight; so the number of trees obtained was probably not large. The following year, however (1859), seventy-one apple trees and some cherry trees were purchased, at a cost of $17.75. These efforts to start an orchard were successful. The location was on the old homestead, about two and one-half miles east of what was at that time a frontier village called Topeka. The trees bore the first fruit in 1867. Other and more profitable orchards have been planted since then on the farm, but a few of the original plantation are still standing and bearing occasional crops of fruit (so my brother informs me).

On locating at Manhattan in 1870, the sod was broken, and the following year an orchard was planted; and we have planted trees more or less every year since. It has proven a source of pleasure and profit. After it commenced bearing I do not recall a year when the crop was an entire failure, and though we cannot now command two dollars per bushel, as we could for the apples from the Topeka orchard, yet they have paid well. The number of varieties we have tried is no less than seventy-five, not including seedlings. The following varieties I would unhesitatingly recommend as having proved profitable and more or less hardy. For early summer, Early Harvest and Red Astrachan; both are tender apples when fully ripe and will then not bear shipping well. I have found it best to gather the ripest at least every other day and find buyers in the local market. The next to follow these, Chenango Strawberry, Maiden's Blush, and Pennsylvania Red Streak; the two latter are good shippers. The Pennsylvania Red Streaks are a decided success with me, and have paid nearly as well as my best winter sorts; don't fail to plant some of them. Next, I would recommend the following winter varieties in the order named: Winesap, Missouri Pippin, Ben Davis, Jonathan, and if you like a first-class sweet apple plant some Bentley Sweet, if you can obtain them. I have been obliged to top-graft some seedlings in order to perpetuate my own stock of them. I think it is also advisable to plant some Rawle's Janet trees. They are a late bloomer and will occasionally produce a crop when the other sorts have been injured by late freezing. In fact, they have the faculty of bearing in the "off" years, as we call them—years when the balance of the orchard is resting from previous labors.

Much has been said as to the proper location for an orchard—bottom land or hilltop, level ground or sloping. The fact is, with careful attention to the trees, any good, rich soil will answer. Anything that can in a measure ward off the evil effects of the fierce summer gales and the droughts of July, August and September will tend to minimize the losses. Were it possible for me to choose a piece of land exactly to my notions, I should select a river-bottom farm in the neck of some large "horseshoe," being where it would be possible for the trees to reach down their roots and draw moisture during the dry season by natural subirrigation. Marketing the crop is the last but not the least work of the apple-grower. In fact, when the orchard is well established, this is about the only work connected with the orchard. And in that respect the orchard has a decided advantage over other farm crops, that require yearly preparation of the soil, sowing, harrowing, cultivating, etc., as well as the harvesting of the crop. The early summer apples can usually be sold on the local market at fair prices; the later summer and fall can be shipped, and are usually in fair demand by Western buyers. Ship only your best; it will hardly pay to send any other grade. There is usually a good demand at this point for winter varieties by farmers from the West, who come in and buy their winter supply by the wagon-load. Occasionally, if the Eastern crop is short, buyers from Chicago will be on the ground. We do not believe in holding apples long in the hope of obtaining higher prices. Cold storage will solve this difficulty of the orchardist; we hope it will prove a success.

The most convenient thing to gather apples in from a tree or ladder that we have tried is a picking sack—a grain sack with a heavy wire or a stiff leather strap fastened around the mouth, and a broad strap connecting the top with the bottom of the sack. This can be carried over the shoulder with considerable comfort. There are always more or less inferior and unmarketable apples left after the best have been disposed of, and what to do with them is a question that confronts every great apple grower. For the last fourteen years we have been working this grade into vinegar. We found there was considerable to learn and care exercised to avoid losses. I will mention a few important things that are necessary to produce a good article of cider vinegar. First obtain good, iron-bound oak barrels—vinegar or whisky barrels preferred. Never use soft wood barrels of any kind. Paint them well with ocher before using; they will last longer. After filling with cider, keep in a shed until cool weather; then draw off and run into barrels in the cellar for winter, although, if well protected and not too full, they could remain out in the shed over winter. In the spring draw off again and run into other barrels; you will, in this, hasten the fermentation of vinegar and obtain an article free from sediment. It requires from one to two years for vinegar to cease working. Sell it then, and not before. Though it may be very strong, it will not keep pickles unless the process is complete. Much of the vinegar sold on the markets as apple vinegar is made from corn, and now that corn has risen in price it is possible that the price of this kind of vinegar may rise also. It has not the quality or flavor of cider vinegar, but it can be manufactured so cheaply that it has hurt the market for a better article.

Maj. Frank Holsinger, Rosedale, Wyandotte county: Has resided in Kansas since March 7, 1867—thirty years; has 1500 apple trees from one to twenty-nine years planted, "big as a barn." Prefers Gano, Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin and York Imperial for commercial purposes, and Early Harvest, Cooper's Early White, Maiden's Blush and Jonathan added for family use. Says life is too short to tell how many varieties he has tried and discarded. Prefers a loose soil, and used to think hilltop best, but says there is no choice between bottom and hilltop, and that any particular slope is a delusion, as all are equal. Plants medium two-year-old trees, "usually roots downward—tops up." Cultivates with double-shovel plow and hoe up to seven years, planting with corn or potatoes. Then grows clover and weeds, "weeds mostly," ceasing to cultivate when it becomes inconvenient. Says windbreaks are unnecessary, and should only be made of the sun—"let her shine"—and does not understand how a rabbit can do a mechanical job of gnawing. Does not prune; he "trains"; leaves the pruning tools in the tool-house, and says it pays. Would thin apples on trees if labor did not come so high. His experience as to difference in fruitfulness between planting of one or of several kinds [together] is unsatisfactory. Believes fertilizers are good for trees if spread out, never if piled around the tree; would surely advise its use on all orchards. Would never allow an orchard pastured by any kind of live stock.

Has a large list of insects to contend against, but is not bothered with leaf eaters, hence does not spray, and does not believe any one has lessened the codling-moth by spraying. Uses common sense on borers, and digs them out. He first mounds the tree, and thereby gets what larvæ there may be deposited high up in the collar, few remain; these I dig out, which is all "simple enough." He describes gathering apples thus: "Pick 'em by hand; surround the apple with your fingers, break back gently, which loosens the stem, then lay gently in the basket. It is very simple, the process." Makes two classes, one the best, the other of seconds. In the first we put all that seem perfect; in the second, all others that are not culls. Packs in barrels, well shaken down and pressed; marks with name of variety, and always rolls [?] them to market. Sells the best any way possible, peddles seconds, and lets the culls rot. His best market is Kansas City—three miles. Never dries any. Stores for winter in various ways. Has had varying success, and believes loss in cold store was owing to varying temperature and lack of proper care. Does not irrigate, but trusts in the Lord. Prices range from six dollars to ten dollars per barrel. For help he uses "men and mules," and pays as "little as possible, believing that is often too much."

John E. Sample, Beman, Morris county: Have been in Kansas twenty years; have 1000 trees planted twelve years, of Ben Davis, Rawle's Janet, Missouri Pippin, and Winesap; also Red and Sweet June, Early Harvest, and Maiden's Blush. Have discarded the Twenty-ounce Pippin as no good here. I have a deep, black loam with a clay subsoil, on upland, with southeast slope. I plant two-year-old trees a little deeper than they grow in the nursery, in rows thirty feet apart, and thirty feet in the rows, alternating the trees. I cultivate to corn and potatoes for about eight years, and then sow to red clover. I believe windbreaks beneficial, and would make them of red cedar or Russian apricots planted on the west, south and east sides, thirty feet from the orchard. I feed the rabbits corn and clover; have no trouble with borers. I prune heavily, to make the apples large and keep down too much wood growth. I fertilize my trees with timber dirt, and think it pays. I believe it pays and is advisable to pasture orchards with hogs. I pick by hand, and sort into three classes: large, medium, small and blemished. Have not dried any. Store in the cellar, in crates two feet long, ten inches wide, and eight inches deep. Have sold at fifty to eighty cents per bushel.

E. K. Wolverton, Barnes, Washington county: I have resided in Kansas twenty-eight years; have an apple orchard of 18,500 trees from five to twenty-seven years old. For market I prefer Missouri Pippin and Ben Davis, and for family orchard would add Duchess of Oldenburg. Have tried and discarded Winesap and Rawle's Janet on account of shy bearing and poor keeping quality. I prefer a rich bottom with a porous subsoil, an east and north slope. I prefer good, thrifty, two-year-old trees. I plant by wire after the principle of check-row corn-planting; make the links twenty feet long, tie a white cloth in each link coupling, make the line long enough to plant ten trees (eleven links in length), stretch the chain east and west, say on north side of plat intended for planting; stick a stake at every tag. Draw another line ten trees south of it, and stick a stake at every tag, and so on to the south side of the plat. Then draw the line from the northeast stake to the east stake of the second row, the one due south, having the north tag at the stake. Then plant at every tag, placing the tree on east side of wire. When the row is planted move the wire west to the next stake, and so on till you reach the west side. The ground should first be prepared by plowing as for corn; float off [?] every evening all that you have plowed that day, which leaves the ground in the best condition.

I cultivate my orchard to corn for six to eight years. I plant twenty feet each way, and take an oak plant sixteen feet long, and place one section of a disc at each end of it, making it cut sixteen feet wide from outside to outside, and running within two feet of the trees at either end, leaving a space eight feet wide in the middle. Run another disc on that ground with another team and you have the space between the rows all clean of weeds if ground is in good condition when work is done. Cultivate both ways as often as necessary. I grow no crop in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are not essential. For rabbits I tie coarse grass around the trees with label wire, and leave it on two years. I also use traps. I do not prune my trees; it is too injurious to the trees. I do not thin my apples while on the trees; it is too expensive. 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. My apples are troubled with worms. I spray the first of May with London purple for canker and apple worms.

I pick in baskets and sacks. Sort into two classes: marketable and culls, using a sorting table. Sell my apples in the orchard to wagons from the West. I evaporate the second- and third-grade apples when the crop is large; make the culls into cider and vinegar. I tried distant markets for two years and found they paid. When apples are abundant we dry for market; use the same kind of driers as are used at Fairmount; sell them in sacks to the stores, and find a ready market for them; but it does not always pay. I do not store any for winter market if I can sell them in the fall. I do not irrigate. Prices have been in 1896, twenty-five cents per bushel; 1897, forty cents per bushel.

J. A. Hewitt, Hiawatha, Brown county: I have lived in Kansas thirty years, and have an orchard of 900 trees twenty-six years old. For commercial purposes I prefer the Ben Davis, Winesap, and Jonathan; and for family use would add Early Harvest, Maiden's Blush, and Grimes's Golden. Have tried and discarded some; very few varieties pay. I prefer high prairie. Have never grown any seedlings. I cultivate my orchard by planting to corn—raising no small grain—for a few years, then use the disc and harrow as long as the orchard lasts. I plant nothing in the bearing orchard, and cease cropping about eight years after setting. Windbreaks are essential to a growing orchard. I prune my trees a little every year to keep them in shape, and to let the sun in; I think it beneficial, and that it pays. Do not thin the fruit while on the trees, but think it would save time and pay well. I can see no difference whether trees are in blocks [of one kind] or mixed plantings. I do not fertilize my orchard, but am sure it would be beneficial, judging by some that have fertilized; I would advise it on all soils. No! no! no! no! I do not pasture my orchard; do not think it advisable; it does not pay. My apples are troubled with codling-moth. I do not spray. I sell my apples in the orchard at wholesale, yet sometimes retail them. I let my neighbors pick up the culls at ten cents per bushel. My best market is at home. I store apples successfully in bushel crates. I find the Winesap, Rawle's Janet, Ben Davis and Little Romanite keep best. I have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about two per cent.

James Dunlap, Detroit, Dickinson county: Has lived in Kansas since October, 1871. Has an orchard of 1200 apple trees, 300 planted sixteen years, 700 planted eleven years, 200 planted six years. Considers Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Ben Davis and Jonathan best for market, and for family would add Red June, Early Harvest, Mammoth Black Twig, and Cooper's Early White. Have tried and discarded Yellow Transparent, Rambo, Fameuse, and others. Prefers bottom and eastern slope, sandy loam, with clay subsoil. Plants thrifty one-year-old trees in holes large enough to spread the roots out well, leaning the young trees slightly to the southwest. Cultivates both ways as close to the trees as possible, usually planting to corn until the orchard is about twelve years old; then pastures to calves in fore part of season, mowing off the grass and weeds later. Believes windbreaks very essential on north, west and south sides; uses Osage orange hedge and two rows of forest-trees, planting them seven feet apart and seven feet away from the apple trees, when orchard is started.

For protection from rabbits he uses a wash of lye and soft soap on the tree. In pruning he believes it pays to cut out sap sprouts, and balance up the tree. He fertilizes by placing stable litter around the trees in winter, and spreading it in the spring, and says it pays. Says it certainly pays and does no harm to pasture the old orchards with calves. He is troubled with canker-worm, flathead borer, tarnish plant-bug, fall web-worm, and leaf-crumpler, also with codling-moth. He sometimes sprays for codling-moth and canker-worm, and thinks he has reduced both of them materially. Cuts out borers and washes the tree with lye. Has tried kerosene oil on borers and says it did not seem to injure the trees. He picks in baskets, dumps in piles in the orchard, and covers with coarse hay. Sorts into two classes—sellers and cider apples. Uses barrels as a package. Makes cider vinegar and hog feed of culls, and sells his good apples in various ways; has sold in orchard. His best markets are the surrounding towns and the neighboring farmers. Never dries any, and only stores enough for winter use of family. Price in 1896 was seventy-five cents for best, fifty cents for seconds. Hires no help.

Robert Montgomery, Troy, Doniphan county: Came to Kansas in 1857; served three years in the United States army, and have been here ever since. I have 4000 apple trees that have been set from twenty to thirty years. My market varieties are Ben Davis, Jonathan, and Missouri Pippin. For family use I added Yellow Transparent, Red June, Chenango Strawberry, White Winter Pearmain, Rawle's Janet, and Nelson's Sweet. I have discarded the Baldwin, Spitzenberg, Northern Spy, Early Harvest, and Early Pennock. Bottom land is not good; hills and hollows are best, with north or east slope; what we call mulatto soil is best. I prefer thrifty two- or three-year-old trees with low tops. Half of my trees are planted thirty feet each way. I now plant in rows two rods apart north and south and one rod apart in the row. I raise corn and potatoes among my trees for five or seven years, cultivating with the plow and the hoe; afterward I seed to clover; a disc can be used to good advantage every year; I keep the orchard in clover. Windbreaks are beneficial on high land, made of cottonwood, or better of cedar or Norway spruce, planted on the south side when you plant the orchard. I protect from rabbits with wooden protectors, leaving them on the year round. I cut the borers out with a knife, also use a wire. I shape the head of young trees by cutting out all the watersprouts with pruning shears and saw; old trees must be pruned or the apples will be small.

Barn-yard litter is beneficial on thin land, not necessary on rich land, but ashes are good on any soil. I pasture my orchard in summer with young horses and hogs. I think it advisable, as the hogs eat the apples that drop and destroy the worms. I have never sprayed. I pick in half-bushel baskets, and sacks with an iron hoop in the mouth; pour them in barrels and haul them to the barn, except those we wish to ship at once, which we sort in the orchard. I make two classes—good, sound, merchantable apples, and seconds. I have a culler that holds one barrel. I sort into a barrel, throwing the culls into another barrel, and I afterward sort the culls, for seconds; I pack in eleven-peck barrels, full and pressed solid, marked with the name of the variety written on the barrel. I sell the best at wholesale in barrels, the second grade by car-loads in bulk; the culls I give away, feed to hogs and cows, and make into cider. My best market is East and North. Have never shipped more than 500 or 600 miles away, and it paid. Have never dried any, and only store in barrels in my barn until I get a sale for them, never later than December. Price in the orchards in 1896 was seventy-five cents per barrel; in 1897, one dollar and a half. I use men for picking, at one dollar per day and their dinner.

F. W. Dixon, Holton, Jackson county: Has been in Kansas twenty-seven years; has an apple orchard of 6000 trees, set from three to twenty-five years. Grows and recommends for commercial orchard: Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Jonathan, Winesap, and Gano. For family orchard: Winesap, Ben Davis, Jonathan, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Maiden's Blush, and Rawle's Janet. Has tried and discarded Yellow Transparent, Early Harvest, Red June, Wagener, Willow Twig, Dominie, Roman Stem, Seek-no-further, Porter, Pound Sweet, Nyack Pippin, and Minkler, because they did not pay; some blighted and failed to bear. Prefer timber soil, or sandy loam with open clay subsoil; bottom land is good if it has not a hard-pan subsoil. Apples will not succeed well planted on ordinary sod, with impervious subsoil. Plant thrifty two-year-old trees, from four to six feet high, well branched. Cultivate as long as the tree lives; use turning plow in spring, and follow with harrow every week during summer until orchard comes into bearing; then get some tool that will stir the ground two to three inches deep, and cultivate often. Cultivation pays better than fertilizer or anything else. He grows small fruit among the trees, but believes corn the best crop up to eight or nine years; then grows nothing. Does not think windbreaks essential, and would have none on the east or north; would not object to windbreak of Russian mulberry, or other hardy trees, on south and west. For rabbits, he wraps the trees, and keeps two good beagle hounds. Does not prune, except to keep watersprouts off, and cuts out limbs that cross. Thinks the wind thins the fruit sufficiently. Believes the best apples are self-pollenizers, and need no other varieties near, and that it does not pay to grow others. Never use any fertilizer. If orchard "runs out," would have another ready to take its place. Allows no stock in orchard. Is not troubled with insects. Has sprayed a little for tent-caterpillar. He digs out borers with a knife. His best market has been at home, selling by the bushel or wagon-load to farmers who do not grow any. Believes thorough cultivation better than irrigation. Prevailing prices, thirty-five to seventy-five cents per bushel. Uses male help, at one dollar per day without board.

S. H. Domoney, Aurora, Cloud county: Have been in Kansas ten years. Have an orchard of —— trees, planted from twelve to fourteen years, of Ben Davis, Winesap and Missouri Pippin for market, and Red June, Duchess of Oldenburg, Cooper's Early White and Kansas Keeper for family use. I prefer limestone soil with gravelly subsoil, in the bottom, with north slope, if possible. Prefer trees two years old with low heads. "I like a tree with a tap-root." Plow deeply and plant in loose soil, thirty feet apart each way. I grow potatoes and sweet corn for six or seven years, after which I sow orchard-grass. The best tool for cultivating is a disc harrow. Growing no crop in the orchard. I think windbreaks are essential, and prefer Russian mulberry, three rows, planted six by eight feet apart. I like the mulberry best because they come into leaf early and hold their foliage late. I prune a little, to thin out and let the sun in. I believe it would pay to thin fruit on the trees. I use stable litter, and fertilizer from the hog-pen, and think it pays if not put too close to the tree. I tried pasturing with hogs, but don't think it advisable, as they destroy the trees to get apples. I spray some with London purple after the bloom falls, to destroy canker-worm and codling-moth, and think I have reduced the latter by such spraying. I dig borers out. We pick by hand, and sort into very best, second best, and culls. I sell at retail and to the grocers in Concordia, Kan. I make some cider, and feed culls to the hogs; never dried any; winter some in barrels and boxes, and find Ben Davis and Missouri Pippin the best keepers. I do not irrigate. Use no hired help. Prices have ranged from fifty cents in summer to eighty cents in winter.

H. L. Ferris, Osage City, Osage county: A citizen of Kansas for twenty-one years. Have an orchard of 4000 apple trees—200 twenty years, 1800 seventeen years, 2000 sixteen years planted. Prefer, for commercial purposes, Ben Davis, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin; for family orchard: Winesap, Missouri Pippin, Jonathan, Romanite, and Maiden Blush; have discarded Rawle's Janet. Prefer good upland corn ground, with sand or gravel subsoil, north and east slope. I plow deep, and plant large two-year-old trees, shallow, and mound up; shorten roots and branches. Cultivate with plow and harrow from youth to old age. Grow corn in young orchard up to six years, afterward nothing. Prefer a windbreak on south, west, and north, of box-elders, Osage orange, or peach. Rub liver on trees to repel rabbits, and use a knife for borers. To prune with a little saw makes the trees grow faster, and the apples grow larger, and it pays. Use stable and barn-yard litter to fertilize with, and it pays. Would not allow live stock to run in orchard. Am troubled with roundheaded borers and codling-moth. Spray in May and June for bitter rot and fungous diseases. Fight borers with a five-eighths chisel, a wire, and coal-tar. Pick from step-ladders into tin pails hung to branch with wire hook; haul in boxes on spring wagon to packing place. Sort on tables into three grades—first, second, and cider apples; pack into eleven- or twelve-peck barrels. Sell in all ways; have sold in orchard. Ship the best; best market in Texas. Send six-inch apples to where they are scarce; culls I sell cheaply at home, evaporate some, and make vinegar. Use a Zimmerman evaporator and Eureka parers. Sell dried fruit at retail, have shipped some; do not think it pays, do not find a ready market. Store for winter use in boxes in cellar successfully; find Romanite and Winesap keep best; lose about one-fourth. Have irrigated some from a pond with an eight-inch hose and steam-power pump. Average price has been fifty cents per bushel for apples and five cents a pound for dried apples. Use male help gathering, and female help at dryer, paying eight to ten cents per hour.

A. Oberndorf, Centralia, Nemaha county: Have lived in Kansas nineteen years. Have an apple orchard of 4200 trees, from three to twenty years planted. I am told Ben Davis and Gano are the best apples for commercial purposes; for family use I would prefer Early Harvest, Red Astrachan, Duchess of Oldenburg, Maiden's Blush, Ben Davis, Winesap, and Rawle's Janet. I prefer hilltop with northern slope. I prefer one-year-old, switch-like trees, set 16×30 feet. I plant young orchards to corn, using double-shovel and diamond plow, and harrow; plant the bearing orchard to clover and cease cropping at five years. For rabbits I use paint during summer and wrap during winter. I also use paint for borers. I prune with shears and knife to secure an open center; do not think it beneficial. Never thin apples. I fertilize with barn-yard litter; it seems to benefit the trees and prolong their fruitfulness. Do not pasture my orchard. My old trees are affected with flathead borer and leaf-roller. The codling-moth trouble my apples. I sprayed three seasons; saw no benefit, so quit. I pick by hand, in a basket. I sort into three classes: First class, for market; second class, for immediate sale, and small ones, for cider. I usually sell at the nearest market. Best market is at home. Never dry any. I store for winter markets in cellar, in barrels, boxes, and in bulk, and am successful; find that the Winesap and Rawle's Janet keep best. We have to repack stored apples before marketing; sometimes lose more than at other times. Do not irrigate. Price has been fifty cents per bushel. I hire help at one dollar per day, or twenty dollars per month and board.

P. M. Howard, Clyde, Cloud county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-six years; have an apple orchard of 450 trees. For market purposes I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, Rawle's Janet, and Jonathan; and for family orchard Ben Davis, Winesap, Early Harvest, Maiden's Blush, Jonathan, and Wealthy. Would prefer a deep loam soil, clay subsoil, if not too close to the top, and almost level. I prefer two-year-old, low-head trees with no forks, planted in furrows. I cultivate my orchard to corn planted east and west as long as I can, using the plow and cultivator shallow; and cease cropping when the trees so shade the crop that there is no profit; I grow clover or weeds in a bearing orchard, and mow and leave on the ground for a mulch. Windbreaks are essential; I would make them of Osage orange planted in rows 2×4 or 2×6 feet. For rabbits I wrap the trees with corn-stalks, and for borers I mulch and keep the trees growing. I prune my trees when planted; I think it beneficial. I never thin the fruit on the trees. I fertilize my orchard with anything of a coarse nature that is not easily disturbed; I would advise its use on all soils, unless very rich, deep clay soil; in such soil perhaps clean cultivation would be all that is necessary. I would add that my observations and experiences have taught me that the people of Kansas have lost millions of dollars from and through lack of knowing what we should have known. I think that the State Horticultural Society is doing a great and good work with limited appropriations. I have never seen any one yet who read the reports from the horticultural department but what was in full sympathy with your labors, but wondered why more reports were not sent out. I think our legislators should be more wise; consequently, more liberal in their appropriations for the work and distribution of the same, not only to the farmers, but to people in towns and cities; their needs are in proportion as great as the farmers'.

As to the fruit business: On the southeast quarter of section 26, township 4, range 1, is one of the best orchards I know of in Republic county (not the largest). It consists of about 450 apple trees, also peaches, cherries, pears, and grapes. Myself, little girls and wife planted it. I wish to tell you how every one of the different fruits have abundantly paid for labor and all cost, and left their owners a fair profit. The soil of this successful orchard is a black loam, upland prairie, clay subsoil; loam eighteen inches to two feet deep, previously cultivated in corn and potatoes, plowed, not listed. Lay of land: Two slight ridges; a wide draw; slope east and west. Trees more vigorous and bear as well in draw as on upland. Varieties: Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Jonathan, Winesap, Rawle's Janet, Maiden's Blush, mostly the first four. Planting: Distance, thirty by thirty feet, furrowed out with a fourteen-inch plow, running two furrows across each way. Cleaned out all loose dirt to make room for all roots to spread without turning up. The little girls held the trees, tops leaning to the southwest about five degrees. I covered the roots well, tramped firmly, and filled with loose earth. Leave furrows so as to hold water on upper side of tree. After all trees were out I gave each one a slight mulch of sorghum refuse. Cultivation: Crop always corn; rows running east and west. Rows far enough from trees so horses or singletrees would not touch them. Cultivate shallow, with one horse, and light plow with very short singletree. Pruned some. All limbs where cut off were painted. Cut close and smooth; wounds healed readily. Tried to prune so that air and sun would go through and not against the trees. Pinch off all water or tender sprouts.

To protect from rabbits and borers I stand corn-stalks running clear up to branches around body; tie at top and bottom; keep trees low, a little heavier on southwest side. I believe with thorough cultivation and stalk protection we would hear of less borers. All mulch was kept away from bodies of trees. I believe it all nonsense not to prune, but it should be done while they are young. My observation has been all my life that a well-balanced tree is longer lived, has more bushels of fruit, of better quality, smoother limbs and trunks. So I would say if you do not intend to protect the bodies of your young trees and prune do not buy or plant them; it does not do to sow oats, wheat, rye, millet or any grain crops in your orchard. It is an easy way to keep weeds down and a sure way to kill your orchard. It does not pay to pasture even with calves; chickens are at all times beneficial; hogs after your orchard has matured so the trees can resist the hog, when he rubs against them, which the hog is sure to do, and perhaps he will pull some of the lower limbs. I have never sprayed, but firmly believe it profitable. Next year I expect to plant out a new orchard and cultivate along the line of the one I have told about, with such help as I can get from the horticultural department.

D. S. Haines, Edwardsville, Wyandotte county: Has been in Kansas twenty-six years; has 3000 apple trees from two to twenty-five years old. Commercial varieties, Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Jonathan, and Willow Twig; and for family use, Early Harvest, Red Astrachan, Maiden's Blush, Jonathan, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Rawle's Janet, Celestia, and Winesap. Has tried and discarded Bellflower, Pennock, Baldwin, McAfee's Nonesuch and others for barrenness. Best location, hilltop, sandy loam with clay subsoil—any slope will do. Plants either in fall or spring, two-year-old thrifty trees, fifteen by thirty feet apart, a little deeper than they stood in the nursery. Grows corn, potatoes, cabbage, etc., well cultivated, among the trees, but not to crowd them, for five or six years. Uses a spading harrow where no crop is grown. After six years sows to clover. Needs no windbreaks in his section. Traps and shoots rabbits. Takes borers out with knife. Prunes very little; cuts out dead or broken limbs, as they are no good, and take up room. Never has thinned apples on the trees, but believes it would be all right. Sees no difference in fruitfulness if trees are in blocks of a kind or mixed up. Would use barn-yard litter, but not close to the trees; believes in it on all soils. Does not pasture, and thinks it would not pay. Is troubled with borers, tent-caterpillars, leaf-rollers, leaf-crumblers, and codling-moths. Never sprays. Picks in sacks. Packs in orchard, in twelve-peck barrels well pressed. Uses table for sorting (described elsewhere) and makes Nos. 1, 2 and 3 grades. Marks name of variety and own name on barrel head. Sells his best in car lots at wholesale, the culls to peddlers. Generally markets at Kansas City. Has tried distant markets and made it pay. Never dried any. Stores for winter in barrels in cold store; not always satisfactory; thinks the cold-storage business not yet fully understood; says Ben Davis and Jonathan keep best. Sometimes repacks, at a loss of one-tenth to one-sixth. Does not irrigate. Prices have ranged from two to five dollars per barrel. Paid last year one dollar per day to men who could do a good day's work.

E. M. Gray, Perry, Jefferson county: I have lived in Kansas forty years; my orchard of twenty acres has been planted twenty years. For market, I prefer Ben Davis and Jonathan on poor land; and Missouri Pippin and Winesap on rich land. For family orchard, Early Harvest, Red June, Winesap, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Missouri Pippin, and Huntsman's Favorite. Have tried and discarded Grimes's Golden Pippin, Lawver, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and Huntsman's Favorite; they are not profitable, are too small when grown on poor land. I prefer yellow clay bottom, with an east, south or northern aspect. I prefer large, healthy, two-year-old trees, planted with a lister, subsoil plow, and spade. I cultivate my orchard to corn, small fruit, potatoes and nursery stock seven years, with a cutaway disc harrow, and cease cropping after eight years; I plant nothing in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of Russian mulberry, Osage orange, or cedars, by planting two rows of them on the south and west sides of the orchard. For rabbits I keep a shot-gun and dogs. I do not prune; don't think it beneficial. I do not thin my apples while on the tree, but think it would pay. My trees are in mixed plantings; my Ben Davis are fuller and redder planted close by Jonathan and Winesap. I do not fertilize my orchard, but think it would be beneficial, and would advise its use on all exhausted soils in old orchards. Do not pasture my orchard; would not advise it, don't think it would pay. My trees are troubled with flathead borers, and my apples with curculio. I do not spray. I dig borers out with a knife.

Pick my apples by hand; have light-weight men climb the trees and pick in meal sacks, then lay on tables. Sort into two classes: First, perfect, well colored, smooth, and good size; second, wormy, fair, and small size. Pack in three-bushel barrels, well rounded up; mark the variety of apples on the barrel with a stencil; haul to market on a hay-frame wagon. I sell in the orchard, wholesale, retail, and peddle; sell the best to highest bidder; sell the culls to driers or ship South or West. My best markets are where apples are scarcest. Do not dry any; it does not pay. Don't store any; I have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about one-twelfth of them. Do not irrigate. Prices have been from $2 to $2.75 per barrel; dried apples, five cents per pound. I employ men at seventy-five cents per day. Apple-growing in Kansas, on high prairie land, is not very profitable to the grower, unless he has a good windbreak on south and west sides of his orchard. In 1880 I planted twenty acres of apples trees of many varieties; Ben Davis and Jonathan were the only ones that paid me on high land. In 1895 I planted thirty acres to apples; fifteen acres on upland and fifteen acres on second bottom, sloping east and north. On the upland I put nothing but Ben Davis and Jonathan; on the bottom I planted Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Mammoth Black Twig, Gano, Winesap, and Jonathan—cross-fertilizing the Ben Davis every fifth row with the Mammoth Black Twig, Jonathan, and Winesap. I believe that cross-fertilization is beneficial to an orchard in making fruit more plentiful, larger, smoother, better color and quality. It is believed by many that Ben Davis, Jonathan and Winesap are self-fertilizers, and don't require crossing; that being the case, they should have the cross near by, in order to not decrease the species or run it out. Professor Darwin says self-fertilization is abhorrent to nature, and the same rule that applies to small fruits is equally applicable to apples. Why not?

Fruits and premium awards are my best advertisers. I have succeeded in carrying off most of the awards in every show I exhibited at, and have premiums on file to show for some. All my fruits are set for cross-fertilization, and I shall continue to set that way. Many have said and will say they see no difference; perhaps they are not close observers, and have given the subject little study. I have given the subject twenty-five years' study and experience, and think I am not mistaken. I think there is more money to be made on our high upland in pears, small fruits, and stone fruits. They pay me better than apples. The Grimes's Golden Pippin would be a good apple to grow if the trees did not die after two or three crops. The Lawver apples fail to hang on the trees. The Missouri Pippin will not stand up on our high land unless surrounded by windbreaks; they look here like a Kansas cyclone had passed through them—the limbs all blew off last fall. Winesaps fall off badly, and are affected with bitter rot. For trial purposes, I recommend Mammoth Black Twig, Gano, and York Imperial.

Dr. J. Stayman, Leavenworth, Leavenworth county: We came to Kansas thirty-nine years ago, and traveling over the eastern portion of the state selected Leavenworth as the most desirable point to commence tree and fruit-growing. We were then engaged in that business in Illinois, and had collected over 1000 varieties of apples, which we brought to Kansas; among them were nearly all the leading varieties then grown and many new and rare kinds of local reputation. Our object in making this collection was to grow them side by side, under the same conditions, to ascertain their value. In 1860 we set an orchard of a few hundred trees, consisting of about seventy varieties, two years old. Among them were Ben Davis, Winesap, York Imperial, Willow Twig, Rambo, Rawle's Janet, White Pippin, and Jonathan, and the leading apples generally grown, including summer and fall varieties. At the same time we set out about 1000 root grafts in a nursery. We then collected over 1000 more [scions] and top-grafted them [into standard trees], to get the fruit sooner. Over 1000 of these were received from the late Charles Downing. From this collection, and from specimens of fruit received, we have been able to accurately describe over 2200 varieties, with an outline cut of each, with seeds and core and all other characteristics. And to ascertain what effect climate had upon each variety, we kept an accurate meteorological record of the weather. This we furnished to the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C., for ten years. We also grew the leading varieties on an elevation 400 feet higher, and on various aspects not over two miles apart, and learned what effect elevation and aspect had upon the bearing quality of different varieties.

For commercial orchard I prefer Stayman, Winesap, York Imperial, Jonathan, and White Pippin. It will be noticed that in the commercial list we omitted Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Gano, and Willow Twig. These varieties are all productive and profitable, but we believe the time has come (or soon will be) that the public will demand something better, and to meet this demand we have made the change; but to those who do not believe in progress the above varieties will prove at least productive, if not so profitable as in the past. In making out the list of apples we have hesitated somewhat in heading the list with Stayman, not from any doubt about the apple, but from the fact that it is not generally known; but this objection can be made against any apple when first introduced. The following is the description we gave twenty-one years ago in our fruit notes: "Fruit large, heavy, form oblate conic, regular; color greenish yellow; mostly covered, splashed and striped with dark red; flesh yellow, firm, fine, tender, juicy, rich, mild, aromatic, subacid; quality good to best; season January to May. Seedling of Winesap; bore the ninth year from the seed." After fruiting this apple over twenty years we can add the following: It is a strong grower, has a darker leaf, is a better bearer, hangs on the tree better, is of larger size, is of much better quality, and will keep better than Winesap. Charles Downing gave a similar description of this apple in his appendix. [Stayman Winesap.] R. J. Black, of Ohio, one of the best-posted pomologists, who has fruited it for years, puts it at the head of both the commercial and family lists, and says: "It has all the qualities of the Winesap without any of its faults." Prof. H. E. Van Deman, who has fruited it and seen it fruited in Delaware, puts it at the head of the list, and writes in respect to the change of name: "Stayman (apple) is worth almost a lifetime to produce." "Now, I have been so impressed with its coming value and popularity, that I have thought it ought to be shortened in name to Stayman." J. W. Kerr, of Delaware, says: "It is superior to its parent, the Winesap, in size, color, flavor, and keeping quality. The tree is more vigorous in growth. After several years' fruiting, I have no hesitation in saying it is the finest all-round winter apple that has come under my notice." Professor Heiges writes us about the same in substance. Prof G. H. Powell, of the Delaware Experiment Station, says: "In quality it equals the Northern Spy, and is in season from October to May." We could give many quotations of equal value from Rural New Yorker, Green's Fruit Grower, and National Stockman and Farmer.

Since writing the above we find the following in the last-named paper of May 26: "One variety, Stayman, mentioned frequently in these columns, a seedling raised by our correspondent, Dr. J. Stayman, of Kansas, from the old Winesap, receives special commendation. It is remarkable that, in the wide section of country between Kansas and Delaware, in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Missouri, wherever this variety has been tried, it has developed the same excellences of size, quality, and keeping, as well as of vigor and productiveness. Lovers of choice apples will not fail to make a note of this." Winesap we place second on the list, after a fair trial of over thirty-five years side by side with Ben Davis. Give it good soil and high cultivation and but few apples will excel it. York Imperial we place third. It is not of the highest quality, but it is better than Ben Davis, and will keep in a common cellar, and command a high price. It is very productive in alternate years, and a hardy tree. Although we introduced this apple into the state thirty-eight years ago, yet its commercial value is scarcely known. Jonathan, perhaps, should stand at the head of the list for its great beauty, fine quality, and productiveness; but it matures so early, drops so badly, keeps so poorly, and requires so much care in handling, that we hesitate doing so. It is, however, a very profitable apple when well handled, and cannot be omitted, as no other in its season equals it. White Pippin: This apple of unknown origin and seldom mentioned should be better known, as it is far superior to the famous Newtown or Albemarle Pippin of the same type. We have had it in bearing on high and low land as long as any other apple, and find it very productive in alternate years, of the best quality, and bringing the best price. It keeps better, drops less, is of larger size, equal in quality, and will bring as high a price, where known, as the Jonathan. In a commercial orchard there should be few, if any, fall or summer varieties, unless favorably located; they should be of the best shipping and market varieties, as Early Ripe, Duchess of Oldenburg, Orange Pippin, Cooper's Early White, Jefferis, Muster, and Dr. Watson. These are all early bearers, very productive and salable, and of fine quality for table or kitchen. Those best for a family orchard are Stayman, Winesap, Jonathan, White Pippin, Mason's Orange, Summer Extra, Garretson's Early, Summer Pearmain, Early Joe, Jefferis, Early Ripe, Duchess of Oldenburg, Dr. Watson, Muster, and Wagener; and for sweet apples there are none better than Broadwell, Ramsdell, Superb, Baltzby, and Mountaineer.

All these apples are early bearers, productive, and fine for family use, and we cannot well discard any; but eight or ten trees, of summer and fall varieties together, are enough to supply the largest family. It is better, however, to plant one of each variety, that we may have a succession of fruit throughout the season; also, if one variety should fail, others might not. It would require a very long list to name all we have tried and discarded, but we will name some: Rawle's Janet we reject, as it runs too small and cracks badly; Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Willow Twig, Gano, Arkansas Black and Mammoth Black Twig are all productive, but of poor quality; Maiden's Blush, Lowell, Porter, Rome Beauty, Western Beauty, Fulton, Trenton Early, Cole's Quince, and many others, because they ripen too irregularly and drop too badly. The White Winter Pearmain, Lawver, McAfee and Kansas Keeper blight badly and are not sure bearers; Early Harvest and Red Astrachan are not hardy; Summer Rose, Early Strawberry and Benoni are fine, but too small; Primate, Chenango and Gulley of Pennsylvania are too tender to handle; Smith's Cider, Hay's Wine, Fallawater, Scott's Best and Nonpareil Russet are productive, but ripen early and are not profitable. Many Southern winter varieties are too small, such as Haley, Gully, Kittageskee, and Harris. Few if any Eastern winter apples are of any value here, as Northern Spy, Baldwin, Canada Red, Swaar, Sutton Beauty and Melon all ripen too early, and become poor, dry, fall apples. It is the same with all Northern apples, from whatever source or locality. It is a mistake to think we can find a winter apple adapted to Kansas that originated north of Kansas, under a lower mean temperature. This we have fully demonstrated beyond the possibility of a doubt.

Early apples require a specific amount of heat to bring them to maturity from the time the fruit forms. If brought from a colder climate to a warmer one, you hasten its growth and accelerate its maturity just in proportion to the difference in mean temperature of the two localities, and consequently it ripens in the fall here. I prefer hilltop for quality, keeping, and color, and bottom for size. Hilltop and steep bluffs are the best for all kinds of winter apples, as they produce the richest fruit, with the finest color, and they keep the best and are not so subject to injurious pests. Fifty feet of abrupt elevation is equal in its effect to fifty miles of latitude south on frosty nights. It retards spring growth as much as forty miles north. An elevation of 400 feet makes a difference of from ten to twenty-five per cent. in the amount of saccharine matter in fruit, to which rich quality, fine flavor and aroma are due. Bottom land produces the largest apples, more murky in color and more irregular in bearing. Rolling, intermediate Kansas land will prove satisfactory. East and south slopes hasten the maturity of fruit, and are the best for early varieties; a northern slope retards the ripening of fruit and is the best for winter apples. The best specimens of apples we ever saw in Kansas grew on a northern bench about thirty feet below the top of an elevation of 400 feet, on good, rich, well-drained soil. They were large in size, clear in color, and perfect in form. We prefer any good soil that will produce a good corn crop, with a well-drained clay subsoil; mucky, wet or hard-pan soils are not fit for fruit. Land that produces a good crop of wheat is rich enough. We have seen a very heavy crop of York Imperial at its native home on quite thin freestone land. Almost any of the land in Leavenworth county is naturally rich enough if we only keep it so.

I prefer two-year-old untrimmed trees, set in furrows made with a two-horse plow, no deeper than we plant the trees, but wide enough to take in the roots. We set them about two inches deeper than they stood in the nursery, on the solid subsoil, and pack the dirt firmly amongst the roots; lean or set the heaviest top to the southwest. The largest and heaviest roots, if convenient, should be in the same direction. After filling the hole, bank up a steep mound of earth around the tree. If this is properly done no ordinary wind will ever move it. We prefer two-year-old or strong one-year-old trees, because they can be set more rapidly, cost less labor, less money, live better, and grow more stocky. We want them taken up with care, give no pruning whatever, neither "cut their tops in to balance the roots," when planting in orchard. Trees that are taken up when young and set out in an open orchard without pruning grow stronger and more stocky, bear sooner, and are less subject to blight, sun-scald, and the attack of flathead and roundhead borers. We have root-grafted as many as 500,000 in one season on sections of roots from two to six inches long with scions from three to twenty inches long, to see which were the best. Two-inch sections from one-year roots, grafted with scions about six inches long, set deep enough to form roots on the stock, are best. This "whole-root graft" is simply a humbug. It is the strength and vigor of seedling roots, not the length of them, that make the best-rooted trees. No sensible man will pretend to graft whole seedlings [roots] and set them out in a nursery. It cannot be done with success. We must cut off a portion of the root to do it. The question arises, how much? It is then not a whole root, and it becomes a question what length of root is best. It is not advisable to bud or graft seedling trees in the nursery, for all seedlings are not of the same vigor and hardiness; consequently the trees would differ similarly.

I plant my orchard to corn, potatoes, garden-truck, and small fruits, and keep this up, with clean cultivation, using a Planet jr. horse hoe, until they begin to bear, and cease cropping after ten years, planting nothing unless the above-mentioned crops or clover in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are injurious unless planted at least 200 feet from the orchard. The best protection is to plant the two outer rows of fruit-trees close together; they can be cut out, if desired, when they become too thick. This is better than high-growing shelter trees or evergreens. We want a free circulation of air to pass among the trees. A high and heavy protection produces an eddy which blights and sun-scalds the trees, as well as hastens the ripening and dropping of apples. We have had no occasion to use any protection from rabbits and borers since we quit pruning off the lower limbs. Pruning is not thoroughly understood. Trees are pruned to make them live, grow fast and stocky, and also slender; to make them bear young, give form, light and air, and to make them look alike; to bear heavy crops and fine specimens. It is claimed all this can be done by pruning; it can be accomplished without pruning in a much shorter time and without extra labor. We do not recommend pruning apple trees at any times excepting after the trees are well established in the orchard; then the lower limbs may be gradually removed to form the head, about two feet from the ground; but the longer we allow them to remain the heavier and stockier they become; for the body of the tree increases in size just in proportion to the amount of foliage on the lower limbs. We prune off dead, broken and sucker limbs, and have no objections to taking off limbs that chafe each other (if this should happen from neglect). We have lost more trees from pruning than from all other causes together. We have seen large orchards just in their prime that have been so injured from pruning that they never recovered. On the other hand, I have seen orchards that were so neglected, dilapidated and crowded that I thought a thorough pruning would make them more productive. I never thin the fruit on the trees; it is not necessary.

Pollination is no doubt an important factor in productiveness, size, quality, and form. We have had no opportunity to test the result with apples, as our varieties are all mixed up together. We would not plant in an orchard large blocks of any variety excessively; better have them intermixed with other varieties that bloom at the same time. The pollen of one variety may be congenial to some, while it may be neglected [repelled] by another; we will have to learn this by experience, or plant a less number of varieties together. We have little experience yet in planting large orchards of few kinds. Perhaps none of these varieties that are esteemed so highly are congenial to each other. We had better go slow about planting out 10,000 to 20,000 of one kind together. We may have gone too far now. We do not use any fertilizer for our trees only as we crop the land. The virgin soil of our county does not need fertilizing if planted in orchard until the tree comes into bearing, except we crop the land. It is, however, a mistake to think we can grow an orchard and crop the ground at the same time, without any injury to the orchard, unless we restore the lost fertility in some way. Orchards so exhaust the soil in about sixteen years' cropping that it is worth little afterwards. "It is estimated that an acre of apples in good bearing removes annually about forty-nine pounds of nitrogen, thirty-eight pounds of phosphoric acid, and seventy-two pounds of potash. If the fertility and productiveness of the orchard is to be kept up, these fertilizing elements must be returned in some form." At the market value of these fertilizing materials, it amounts annually to about twelve dollars an acre. It is estimated that an orchard will be in full bearing in about ten years. Then in six years of full bearing it will have exhausted the soil to the amount of seventy-two dollars per acre. Take in consideration the previous cropping of ten years, need we wonder what is the matter with our orchard? Should we diminish the feed of a vigorous horse annually for ten years, do you think he could pull the same load, or be of much value? The nitrogen is the most expensive element, representing about half of the whole, yet it can be restored to the soil by crimson or red clover, peas, vetches, beans, cow-peas, or turnips, which have the ability of converting the free nitrogen of the air into available plant food. The best method of accomplishing this end is to grow these crops on the land and plow them under in their green state at about maturity. I do not pasture my orchard; it is not advisable and does not pay. My apples are troubled with codling-moth. I do not spray. For borers, I bank the trees, so that if they deposit their eggs they can be gotten out easily.

I pick my apples in baskets and sacks from a ladder, and sort them into three classes: first, second, and culls. I pack in baskets and barrels; press them in barrels, and mark with name of variety. I wholesale my apples in the orchard to dealers; market the best in baskets and barrels, sell my second and third grades the best way I can, and throw the culls away. My best market is at home. I never tried distant markets, and do not dry any. I am successful in storing apples for winter in boxes and barrels in a cellar, and find Ben Davis, Stayman, Willow Twig and York Imperial keep best. In storing apples for winter, they should be picked before they are too ripe and when the weather is not too hot; when picked they should be taken at once to shade and packed and stored away in the cool of the evening. They should be well sorted, packed in tight barrels, and headed up to exclude the light and air. They will keep longer if each apple is wrapped with paper. The temperature of your cave or cellar should be reduced as much as possible by throwing the doors open at night and closing them through the day. A gradual reduction and a regular temperature is better than a sudden change. Apples should not be hauled about in the hot sun before storing them away, neither should they be placed in cold storage at once. The change is too sudden. It is the same in taking them out of cold storage. It should not be done at once. A storing room for this purpose should be provided in every cold-storage plant. I do not have to repack stored apples if they are sold early, but if not until late we have to repack. The loss depends upon the variety. I have tried irrigation on a small scale, but do not irrigate now. Prices have been from fifty cents to two dollars per barrel. I employ men that are capable of packing apples, paying from five to ten cents per hour. We seldom hear anything about fall planting, as if it was a settled fact that the spring was the best or the only time it could be done successfully.

All of our trees for the last thirty-eight years have been transplanted in the fall, excepting the last three years they were set out in the spring. The difference is decidedly in favor of fall planting; they start in growth earlier and make a much stronger growth the first season, and there is a gain of nearly a year in size over those planted in the spring, and they certainly have lived better. Why should they not do better? We have more time and less hurry to do the work well, the ground is in better condition, the trees have more time to callus and become firmly established. It is often too wet to take the trees up and transplant them early, and late setting is not advisable. The distance trees should be set apart is a more important matter than is generally supposed. Very few ever think how large a tree will grow and the space it will occupy. Almost every thrifty variety will grow and spread, and require a foot of space each year; that would be ten feet in ten years and forty feet in forty years; in other words, the trees will meet in forty years if set forty feet apart. This holds good in Kansas; consequently, forty feet apart is too close to plant trees if we expect an orchard to last that long. Apple trees will bear and be profitable for that length of time if they have sufficient space, receive proper care and cultivation, and the fertility of the soil is not allowed to become exhausted. Many set their trees 16×32 feet for the purpose of getting a large crop when the trees first come into bearing, with the intention of cutting out every other row when they crowd, but we fear very few if any ever think this will have to be done in fifteen years from the setting or the orchard would be ruined and the land very much impoverished. It would be much better and more profitable to set the trees 24×24 feet and cut every other row out in twenty-four years, at least one way, and if they crowded, both ways, and not crop the land at all, except to keep up the fertility of the soil. By this method we could have a good bearing orchard for forty years or longer, which would pay better than closer planting and cropping the land to pay the expenses.

David Brown, Richmond, Franklin county: Have lived in Kansas thirty-four years; have an orchard of 2000 trees, averaging twenty years planted, composed entirely of Ben Davis, Jonathan, and Winesap; have discarded everything else. I would plant on nothing but deep upland soil, planting good yearling trees. I grow no crop in the orchard, and cultivate thoroughly always with plow and harrow. I have quit pruning, as it kills the trees. Never pasture the orchard. I spray with London purple for the canker-worm and codling-moth. Borers I cut out. I always sell at wholesale to shippers at about eighty cents per barrel. Never dry any or store any for winter.

Francis Goble, Leavenworth, Leavenworth county: Have been in Kansas over forty-three years. I have 13,000 apple trees, ranging in age from last spring's setting to forty years. For commercial purposes I use Ben Davis, Winesap, Jonathan, Missouri Pippin, Ingram, Maiden's Blush, Grimes's Golden Pippin, and Smith's Cider. For family use I would advise Jonathan, Winesap, Early Harvest, Rambo, and Milam. I have tried and discarded numerous varieties. I prefer medium to high land, with a clay and loam soil on a subsoil of clay and sand; any slope is better than southwest. I have planted trees of all ages, and all look well. I plant thirty-two feet east and west and sixteen feet north and south. I believe in thorough cultivation with plow, harrow, etc., as long as the orchard lives. Sometimes the orchard requires a certain kind of cultivation, at other times a different cultivation. In a young orchard I usually grow corn, potatoes, wheat, melons, or pumpkins. In a bearing orchard I usually grow nothing, though sometimes I take a crop of millet or pumpkins from the ground. I cease cropping entirely at from five to seven years. Windbreaks are not necessary here; they make their own windbreak if kept thoroughly cultivated and full of life. Thorough protection will largely prevent borers; if any are found in the tree I remove them with a knife and wire. For rabbits I wrap with paper or other material.

I prune with a saw to keep down surplus wood growth and improve the quality of the apples. It is beneficial if carefully done, a little every spring and not much at once. I believe thinning will pay when the trees are abnormally full. Remove as nearly as possible all defective fruit when half grown, and what is left will be of higher grade in size, color, and quality. I believe a decomposed stable fertilizer is necessary on some soils. Better not pasture with any stock whatever; I do not think it advisable; I think the profit (?) would be an expensive one. Am troubled somewhat with canker-worm, bud moth, borers, leaf-rollers, codling-moth, curculio, and gouger. I sprayed one year for insects generally with London purple through the spring season, and do not think it was a success. I pick about as Judge Wellhouse does, and sort into three classes; the best we make firsts, the best half of the balance we call seconds, and the balance are simply culls. We pack in barrels and haul to market with wagons provided with racks holding sixteen barrels each. I sell my best apples at wholesale, but have never sold them in the orchard; the second grade I sell to groceries and peddlers; the culls I sell to anybody, usually in the orchard. I have never tried distant markets. I never dry any. I store for winter in a cold store built for the purpose on my own farm, which has been described in the paper. I have also tried artificial cold storage, and the Jonathans kept well. [See [Cold Store].]

E. P. Diehl, Olathe, Johnson county: I have lived in Kansas thirty years; have an apple orchard of 700 trees, twenty inches in diameter, twenty-nine years old. For market I prefer York Imperial, Jonathan, Winesap, and Ben Davis, and for family orchard Early Harvest, Maiden's Blush, Winesap, and York Imperial. Have tried and discarded Bellflower, Dominie, Pennsylvania Red Streak, and White Winter Pearmain. I prefer hilltop with a mulatto limestone soil, northeast aspect. Would plant two-year-old trees, forty feet apart. I plant my orchard to corn and potatoes for five years, using a cultivator; cease cropping after six years; plant nothing in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; I would make them of trees, planted on the south, west, and north. I prune with a knife and saw; think it beneficial. I thin the fruit on my trees the latter part of May, and think it pays. My trees are in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard; think it beneficial and that it pays. Pasture my orchard very little, late in the fall, with horses; think it advisable and that it pays. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, bud moth, root aphis, bagworm, flathead borer, roundhead borer, woolly aphis, twig-borer, and oyster-shell bark-louse; and my apples with codling-moth. I spray with London purple, using a force-pump, and think I have reduced the codling-moth. Those insects not affected by spraying I dig out with knife and wire. I hand-pick my apples from a step-ladder into a sack with a hoop in the mouth. Sort into three classes: first, second, and third; pack by hand in three-bushel barrel, mark with stencil, and ship by rail. I sell my apples in the orchard, wholesale and retail. Sell my best ones to apple dealers. Sell my second- and third-grade apples at the stores; make vinegar of the culls. I have dried apples with an American dryer with satisfaction; after dry, pack in barrels; we find a ready market for them and think it pays. I store apples for winter in bulk in a cave and am successful; I find York Imperial and Rawle's Janet keep best. We have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about twenty per cent. of them. I do not irrigate. I get six cents per pound for dried apples. I employ men at $1.25 per day.

In the growing of apples in Kansas many things are to be well considered. That injunction of Davy Crockett's must be kept constantly in view to be successful: "Be sure you're right, then go ahead." First, to select varieties that are well adapted to your soil; next, location; last but not least, the preparation of the soil and future care. Many of the varieties that are well adapted to the Eastern states are unprofitable here. Another great mistake is the planting of too many varieties. When I first came to this state thirty years ago, I consulted Col. A. S. Johnson, now of Topeka. From him I obtained a great deal of valuable information, he having had thirty-six years of Kansas experience. I should, no doubt, have planted many that I did not, owing to the information obtained of him; so it may be seen that, by proper care, experience, and observation, we may be of benefit to the rising generation. Having selected your varieties by consulting the published fruit list of the Kansas State Horticultural Society, next select your location. Select, if you can, the highest northern slope; next east, next west. Put your ground in good order by plowing and subsoiling at least fifteen inches deep. Should there be any tenacious soil or spouty places, tile with four-inch tile, forty feet apart, three feet deep. A great mistake is made by many in planting too closely. I have trees twenty-eight years old, forty feet from tip to tip. Plant to some cultivated crop for six years, then seed to clover; trim your trees each February; keep the borers out, and if they do get into your trees hunt them out; spray your trees frequently at the proper time to prevent the noxious insects from getting the start of you, and when your trees commence to bear commence to fertilize by turning under clover and stable litter. Horace Greeley once said: "You might as well expect milk from a cow tied to a stake as apples from an orchard uncared for."

A. Munger, Hollis, Cloud county: I have lived in Kansas fifteen years; have an apple orchard of seventy-five trees twelve inches in diameter, eighteen feet high, seventeen years old. I prefer for market Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and, to a limited extent, Yellow Transparent and Grimes's Golden Pippin, and for a family orchard add Early Harvest and Maiden's Blush. Have tried and discarded the Willow Twig on account of blight and rot. I prefer bottom land, with a loose subsoil, and young and stocky trees. I plant my orchard to potatoes, beans and vines for ten years, and use a cultivator that keeps three inches very mellow, and cease cropping when impossible to cultivate. I grow weeds in the orchard and mow them. Windbreaks are not essential, but are very desirable; would make them of Osage orange, Russian mulberries, or box-elder. Set the first row four feet apart, the second six inches, and never trim; the third six feet. For rabbits I use traps and gun. I hunt the borers and encourage the birds. I prune my trees so as to give air and sunshine; think it pays. Do not thin the fruit while on the trees. My apples are in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard in the winter with stable litter fresh from the stable; it appears to do good, and would advise its use, with judgment, on all soils. I pasture my orchard with hogs and calves. I do not think it advisable among young trees. My trees are troubled with leaf-roller, and my fruit with codling-moth. I spray just after the blossom falls, with Paris green, for the codling-moth. Prices have been from 25 cents to $1 per bushel. What the future of apple-growing in northern central Kansas may be, it is of course impossible to tell, but from the success of the few orchards that have been planted, and after being planted have received some attention besides that bestowed by calves and pigs, it would seem well worth a trial. There are years when the best attention possible cannot prevent damage and some loss from drought, especially on upland. For this reason bottom land would seem more suitable for an orchard in this county, even though subject to some disadvantages. In some orchards on low land only a few feet above the water-level, where a sandy subsoil admits of a free natural subirrigation, the thrift and productiveness of the trees have been unusually good. Cold seems to be dreaded less than hot, dry weather in the latter part of the summer, although late spring frosts sometimes do damage. Even the traditional "north slope" might have its advantages somewhat balanced in this county by the valley lands that retain a large amount of moisture.

A good soil with a loose subsoil that holds the greatest possible amount of water are the most important requirements as to location. If the cultivation is then such as to save the water of early summer rains to the best advantage until the dry weather of the late summer comes, it will be drawn upon, and some very dry seasons may be tided over without much loss. Plowing in the spring and very frequent shallow cultivation afterwards are, as yet, the best known means to this end; and as a general rule they are sufficient to answer every purpose as far west as central Kansas, without artificial watering, as the average rainfall shows; but if the early rains are allowed to go to waste by falling on the hard ground and running directly off, or by rapid evaporation from an undisturbed surface, where capillary force is rapidly carrying back to the surface what has already soaked in, we invite ultimate failure when the drought comes. Cultivate once a week, or after each rain, when they come oftener than that, with something that will keep two or three inches of very fine, mellow earth on the surface, and will cause an amount of water to be retained in the soil below the earth mulch that will surprise any one who has never tried it. An ordinary harrow will do very well, or better a five-tooth cultivator, behind which I fasten a 2×4 scantling with large wire nails driven through it, about two inches apart, weighted on the back edge to keep it right side up; the scantling is cut as long as the width of the cultivator. At one operation the cultivator and this harrow leave the ground about like a hand-rake would, marked only by the footprints of the driver. Last summer this was used several times where young peach trees had been set out, going around each row and sometimes over the entire ground. There was no time during the summer that the trees stopped growing or showed signs of needing more moisture than they had. Nine hundred and ninety-four lived, the horses killed two, and the borers two more. Fifteen years ago I bought a small farm having on it a small family orchard of seventy-two apple trees. It included several varieties, from summer to winter sorts.

The trees were 28×28 feet apart, with peach trees alternating both ways, making three times as many peaches as apples in the orchard. The land was cultivated until the trees were ten years old, then sowed to timothy and clover. The timothy soon died out; but the clover lived for a few years, but is gone now. It happened that some of the years that it was not cultivated were some of the driest during the fifteen, and several trees died of blight. Would this have happened if the cultivation had been continued? I have gone to plowing and cultivating again, anyway, with no crop in the orchard. The trees are now fifteen or twenty feet high, and about twelve inches in diameter at the ground. The peach trees have mostly been cut out. Cannot see that they did any harm, unless it might have been harder on the apple trees during the dry season; but if it was, the peaches were worth about as much as the apples, and the trees make a quick, bushy growth, thus forming a shelter for the apple trees, which now stand straight and are well balanced. We have had a peach crop about half of the years. Potatoes, beans and vine crops were raised in the orchard the first few years. It was surrounded by a windbreak of cottonwood and box-elder trees, several rows, seven feet apart each way. This is certainly very beneficial; but Russian mulberries grow as well, make a thicker top, and at the same time invite birds to keep up their quarters there and make their homes with us, "a consummation devoutly to be wished." Osage orange, planted the same as for a hedge and never cut back, will make a better windbreak than cottonwood or box-elder, and a fence at the same time.

This orchard has borne variable crops, some good, some light, but always fruits. It is on bottom land sloping very slightly to the southeast; soil a sandy loam with a clay subsoil. It has been pruned considerably, but not very much at a time. One man in this county who succeeds well with apples never prunes, except to keep the center open to sun and air. Another near him gave his orchard a severe trimming a few years ago, and had no fruit, but some dead trees for two or three years afterward. In planting, the ground should be well plowed, then mark off one way with a plow or lister. Twice to the row with the lister, with three or four horses, and the subsoiler well down, will make a very good preparation for small trees without much digging, and small trees are best for several reasons: they are cheaper, less work to set out, and more likely to live. Set stakes to go by, and, in planting, cross the furrows. We have just finished setting 2000 peach trees in this way, and very little digging was needed. Then cultivate well and often. Rub off shoots that start where limbs are not wanted, and start an evenly balanced top of four or five limbs. A year after the trees are set out, if any of them are leaning much, dig away the dirt on the side from which they lean, and set them up straight, tramping the dirt well on the opposite side.

With winter will come the rabbits, and they will girdle the trees if not prevented. Many and varied are the sure cures for them, but none are perfect. A wash of ordinary whitewash and a pint of sulphur to the bucketful, applied with a brush or swab to the bodies of the trees, generally stops their work, but if the rain washes it off it must be put on again or they will resume operations. A little coal-oil added to the whitewash prevents the rain from having so much effect on it; make it thin, so it will not scale off so badly. Two applications have been enough for our young trees the past winter. We also use traps which are very similar to the Wellhouse traps, described in the Kansas State Horticultural Report for 1897. Tarred paper, corn-stalks, veneering, screen wire, cloth tied around the trees, or a woven-wire fence around the entire orchard, are all among the practical means used to fence against rabbits; but don't try the plan of one of my neighbors, unless you have too many trees; he applied coal-tar; it kept the rabbits off, and his orchard is now a treeless corn-field.

During winter we haul manure direct from the stable and spread under the trees (not against them) out as far as the ends of the limbs. On good ground I would not do much of this until the trees get to bearing, as it would interfere somewhat with cultivation and would not be needed, but when a good annual crop is taken from the orchard something must be returned, or the supply is going to run out. On thin land rotten manure applied when the trees are small will do them good. Pasturing an orchard at any time is of doubtful expediency; it is safer not to. I have sprayed but once. That was done just after the blossoms fell, and again ten days later. There were fewer wormy apples than usual. That was last year. Think I will try it further.

For a home orchard Early Harvest, Yellow Transparent, Maiden's Blush, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Winesap, Missouri Pippin and Ben Davis do well here and keep up a supply from first to last. For commercial planting Ben Davis is perhaps best here as elsewhere. Missouri Pippin does well; Winesap bears enormously, but is too small, and gets smaller as the trees get older. There is a good local demand here for Grimes's Golden Pippin and a few of any very early variety. Willow Twig has been worthless on account of blight and rot. Encourage birds by every means, and never let one, or a nest, be disturbed, unless it is that belligerent little alien, the English sparrow. They are at war with all the feathered tribe, even with their own relations, and should be exterminated. Don't begrudge birds a few feeds of cherries and berries, when they work for nothing and board themselves nearly all the year.

A. H. Buckman, Topeka, Shawnee county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-eight years; have an apple-orchard of 1000 trees two to twenty-six years old. For market I prefer Maiden's Blush, Jonathan, Winesap, Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Huntsman's Favorite; and for a family orchard White Juneating (the earliest apple known), Red June, Early Ripe, Duchess of Oldenburg, Sweet June, Fulton Strawberry, Cooper's Early White, Smokehouse, Maiden's Blush, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Jonathan, Winesap, Rawle's Janet, Ben Davis, Ramsdell Sweet, Roman Stem, and Red Romanite. I have tried and discarded King, on account of rot, falls early, water core, short-lived; Kansas Keeper, on account of blight, poor tree; Yellow Bellflower, on account of being a shy bearer and rot; Willow Twig, on account of blight; Lansingburg, on account of blight when the tree is young; R. I. Greening, on account of its falling early, and rot. Baldwin, falls early and rots. Lawver, no good on my soil. McAfee's Nonsuch, poor bearer. Rambo, not acclimated. Northern Spy, rots. Pryor's Red, ripens unevenly, and is affected with scab. Dominie, there are many better of its season. Esopus Spitzenburg, rots badly. Rome Beauty, good some seasons. Ohio Nonpareil, poor bearer, falls before ripe. Lowell, blights while trees are young. Winter Swaar, rots before perfectly ripe. Autumn Swaar, good of its season, and should have a place in the family orchard. York Imperial, poor quality; rots too bad for commercial purposes. American Summer Pearmain, shy bearer while young. White Winter Pearmain, is affected with scab and is no good. Red Winter Pearmain, falls off early; the tree is poor. Gilliflowers, black and red, rot badly. Pennsylvania Red Streak, affected with scab; very good some seasons; trees die early. Sweet Bough, trees die early. Bentley Sweet, keeps all right, moderate bearer; tree appears to be tender. Clayton, rots and is no good. Calvert is a poor bearer and rots with me. Pound Pippin, no value. Iowa Blush, no value, small. Red Vandervere, no value; rots. Vandervere Pippin, moderate bearer and rots. Pennock Summer, good market in its season. Pennock, fairly good; we have plenty better. Early Harvest is affected with scab some seasons. Early Ripe is better and larger and to be preferred. Smith's Cider, blight, poor tree. Red Astrachan, poor bearer. Roxbury Russet, all russets fail with me. Jefferis, quality fine, but will not bear. Ortley, good, but is inclined to rot.

I prefer hilltop having a drift soil, but the subsoil is of more importance than the surface soil. I prefer a north or northeast aspect. I prefer two-year-old, medium-sized trees, clear of root aphis, set in a dead furrow, with peach trees between north and south. I cultivate my trees six years after planting, with a plow and five-tooth one-horse cultivator. Plant the young orchard to corn; cease cropping after six or seven years, and then seed down to clover. Windbreaks are essential; would make them by planting one to six rows of Osage orange, red cedar or catalpas all around the orchard. The boys hunt the rabbits with shot-guns. I wash the trees with a carbolic-acid wash for borers. I prune with a knife and saw to balance the top, keep down watersprouts, and to get rid of useless wood. I think it pays and is beneficial, as it shades the body of the tree and keeps off the flathead borers. I do not thin the fruit. Can see no difference whether trees are in blocks of one variety, or mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter all over the ground, and wood ashes around the trees, but do not believe it pays, and would not advise it on all soils; any soil that is suitable for an orchard will not need enriching until after it ceases to be profitable. I pasture my orchard with hogs and calves; I think it advisable under certain conditions, and find it pays. My trees are troubled with root aphis, roundhead borers and buffalo tree-crickets; and my apples with codling-moth. I do not spray. I pick my apples by hand, from a ladder, into a sack with a strap over the shoulder. I sell the bulk of my apples in the orchard, from piles, at wholesale and retail; sell the grocers and fruit dealers what are left of my best apples. Make cider of the second and third grades of apples. Feed the culls to the hogs. My best market is in Topeka. Never tried distant markets. Do not dry any. I store some apples for winter in bulk, in boxes and in barrels in a cellar. I have to repack stored apples before marketing. Apples have been about forty cents a bushel in the orchard for the last ten years.

E. Higgins, Seabrook, Shawnee county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-six years; have an apple orchard of 250 trees twenty-five years old. For market I prefer Winesap, Jonathan, Maiden's Blush, Smith's Cider, and Ben Davis; for family orchard, Winesap, Jonathan, Maiden's Blush, Red June, and Grimes's Golden Pippin. Have tried and discarded Kansas Keeper on account of blight. I prefer hilltop; best below lime rock, with a northeast slope. I prefer two-year-old, low-headed trees, set thirty feet each way. I plant to corn for four years, then cease cropping, and seed to clover. I have a windbreak on the south side made of Osage orange, to keep the hot winds off. I prune lightly to thin out some of the middle branches; I think it pays. I do not thin my fruit. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter, and plow it under. I think it beneficial, and would advise its use on all soils. I sow my orchard to oats, and pasture with hogs with rings in their noses; they live on the oats, and don't hurt the trees, but with the help of the chickens they keep the canker-worms off. My trees are troubled with round- and flathead borers. I do not spray. I hand-pick my apples; sort into two classes—shipping and cider. I sell my apples in the home market; sell second and third grades to the cider-mills. Never tried distant markets. I do not dry any. I am successful in storing apples in bulk in a cellar; find Winesap to keep best. Prices have been from fifty to sixty cents per bushel. I employ young men at seventeen dollars per month.

J. C. Beckley, Spring Hill, Johnson county: I have lived in the state thirty years; have an apple orchard of 130 trees, twenty-eight years old and large for their age. For a commercial orchard I prefer Ben Davis, Jonathan, and Missouri Pippin; and for family use Early Harvest, Maiden's Blush, Jonathan, and Winesap. I have tried and discarded Smith's Cider, Talman (Sweet), Rambo, Fameuse, Willow Twig, White Winter Pearmain, Roman Stem, Dominie, Fallawater, Wagener, Baldwin, and White Pippin, because they mature too soon, fall off and rot long before it is time to pick them. I prefer hilltop with a dark mulatto soil and a clay subsoil, with a western aspect. I prefer two-year-old trees, with plenty of fibrous roots, and a well-developed top, set forty by forty feet. I cultivate my orchard till it is six or seven years old with a common plow and harrow. In a young orchard I plant potatoes, corn, pumpkins, melons, and garden-truck; I cease cropping after eight or nine years, and seed bearing orchard to clover. Windbreaks are not essential, unless on the south and north sides; would make them of cedar or evergreens. I would not make a windbreak at all. For rabbits I wrap the trees. When hunting borers I take knife and chisel and pare all gum and dirt off of the roots; then I cut wherever I see signs of a borer until I get him, and if he has gone too deep to cut out I take a No. 20 wire six or eight inches long, bend a very small hook on one end, and run it up in the hole he has made, and ninety-nine times out of 100 pull him out. When done put some alkali of some kind around the tree, such as lime, ashes, or soft soap; then cover up.

I prune with a saw or knife, cutting out the crossed limbs and shaping the top. I think it pays while the trees are young. I never thin the fruit while on the trees. My trees are in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard with stable and hog manure; I think it very beneficial, and advise its use on all soils, especially on old orchards. I pasture my orchard with hogs, and think it advisable at times. It pays. My trees are troubled with canker-worms, roundhead borers, and leaf rollers, and my apples with codling-moths. I have never sprayed, but intend to this spring, in April and May. I am going to use a dust sprayer with London purple and Paris green for canker-worm. I pick my apples by hand from a ladder into a sack, sort into two classes by hand, pack in a two-bushel crate, fill full, with blossom end up, mark with the grade, and ship to market-place by freight. I retail apples in the orchard; sell my best ones in crates; feed the culls to hogs. Best market is at home; never tried distant markets. We sun-dry some apples for home use, then heat on the stove and put into paper sacks. I am quite successful in storing apples in bulk, boxes and barrels in a cellar. Ben Davis, Winesap and Little Romanite keep best. Sometimes I have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about one per cent. of them. Prices have been about sixty cents per bushel, and dried apples five to six cents; evaporated apples, seven to eight cents.

Albert Perry, Troy, Doniphan county: Have lived in Kansas forty-one years; have an apple orchard of 5000 trees, planted from five to twenty-four years. I grow for commercial purposes, first, Jonathan; second, Ben Davis, York Imperial, and Mammoth Black Twig. Ten years hence those who now plant Ben Davis will probably regret it. [?] There is a growing demand for a better eating apple. I now plant Jonathans and York Imperial. The latter is a good bearer, and a vigorous tree, however aged. For family orchard, I would advise adding to these Rambo and Fall Strawberry [Chenango]. I have tried and discarded many others. Prefer bottom, loess formation, near Missouri river. No slope has any advantage over another. Cultivate with plow and harrow, growing corn as an orchard crop for five years; then seed to clover and blue grass only. Do not care for windbreaks. Where there are windbreaks apples on trees do not get sufficient air. I protect from rabbits by tying corn-stalks about young trees. Prune some. I believe all apple blossoms are self-pollinating, and there is no advantage in mixed plantings. Need no fertilizers but clover in my locality. Believe it pays to pasture the orchard with horses in the winter; if you have a stack of hay for them to go to they will not harm the trees. Am troubled with codling-moth and apple curculio. Spray for codling-moth ten days after the apple is formed, and believe I have reduced their number. I use the knife for borers. Pick in baskets; deliver to packers in orchard. The aphis appears to do no particular injury to tree or fruit. Burn fall web-worm with a coal-oil torch. Sort into number one, fancy, number two, fair but defective in shape, color, or otherwise, and culls. Pack in three-bushel barrels, pressed so they will not shake. Sell firsts in orchard; sell seconds in car lots in bulk; sell culls in bulk for cider or vinegar. My best market is in the orchard. Have tried consigning to distant markets, but it did not pay. Have stored second grades for winter in boxes and barrels and in bulk, and made it pay. Ben Davis, Winesap and Rawle's Janet kept best. We sort and lose about one-fifth of the second grade only. Prices have run from $1 to $1.50 per barrel, of late years, in the orchard. For help in care of orchard I use men. In picking season I use all kinds of help. No experts. Pay from $1 to $1.50 per day.

J. H. Roach, Lowemont, Leavenworth county: Have been in Kansas forty-two years. Have an apple orchard of 5500 trees; 800 planted thirty years, 1200 planted thirteen years, and 3500 planted three years. For commercial purposes I prefer Jonathan, Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Winesap, and Willow Twig. For family use I prefer Jonathan, Huntsman's Favorite, and Winesap. I have discarded Yellow Bellflower, Rawle's Janet, and Russets. I prefer black loam with red gravel subsoil, hilltop with extreme north slope, no matter how steep. I plant thrifty two-year-old trees, thirty-three feet apart each way, except Missouri Pippin, which may be closer. Cultivate up to twelve years of age; grow corn until seven, then clover two years; then corn one year, after that clover with a little timothy, to keep the weeds down. I cease cropping the clover when the orchard is from twelve to fourteen years old. I consider windbreaks harmful. Any good axle grease or "dope" will keep off rabbits. I trim until five years old with a pocket-knife, to give shape and stout branches. I believe fertilizers are beneficial, put on every second or third year. I pasture my bearing orchard with horses and cattle, after the fruit is gathered until the 1st of January; think it is advisable and a benefit; allow no hogs in at any time. Am bothered some with borers and codling-moth. Have never tried spraying, but would advise it. We pick in sacks fastened over the shoulder with a snap and ring. Usually sell in the orchard. Have tried artificial cold storage satisfactorily, and think it the most reasonable plan. Prices have ranged from $1 to $1.50 per barrel, for firsts and seconds, in the orchard. I employ men at seventy cents per day.

A. D. Arnold, Longford, Clay county: Have lived in Kansas twenty years. Have 300 apple trees, sixteen years planted, from ten to fifteen inches in diameter. Grow only Ben Davis, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin for all purposes. I prefer bottom land in this locality, sandy loam with a northern aspect. Plant two-year, stocky trees, with a low top. I cultivate with the plow and disc, and grow no crop in the orchard. I believe a windbreak of box-elder or evergreens is beneficial but not essential. I prune very little, using my knife with judgment. I use stable litter as a mulch, and think it pays. I never pasture my orchard. Have few insects but codling-moth. I shade the body of the tree to keep borers out, and dig them out if any get in. I use ladders, and pick into baskets, and sort into two classes—perfect and imperfect. My trees have never borne a full crop, only enough for home use and the neighbors. We have had several dry seasons, causing the fruit to fall badly.

J. S. Gaylord, Muscotah, Atchison county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-six years; have 5000 apple trees, planted from one to twelve years. For market I prefer Missouri Pippin, Ben Davis, Winesap, and York Imperial, and for family would add Yellow Transparent, Cooper's Early White, Maiden's Blush, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Jonathan, Rawle's Janet, and Little Romanite. I prefer hilltop with eastern slope, and would plant only two-year-old trees. I have grown both seedlings for stock and root grafts, in the nursery. I believe in thorough cultivation with two-horse cultivator and double-shovel plow, using a five-tooth cultivator near the trees. I crop with corn from seven to nine years, and then sow to clover. I do not think windbreaks essential. For rabbits and to prevent borers I use equal parts of carbolic acid and water as a wash. I prune a little by cutting back on the north side and keeping out the watersprouts, which I think pays. I think it pays to thin apples by hand in July and August. I have used some stable litter in the orchard, and think it pays. I pasture horses in my orchard during winter, but no stock at any other time. I spray, after blossoms fall, three times, two weeks apart, with Paris green, for the codling-moth, and my apples are quite free from worms. I dig out borers and pick off worm nests. I pick by hand in half-bushel baskets, sell at wholesale, and the buyer sorts to suit himself. I have never dried or stored any. Prices in 1896 and 1897, seventy-five cents per barrel; spring of 1898, $1.25 to $1.65. I use laborers at one dollar per day.

Alex. Spiers, Linn, Washington county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-eight years. For commercial orchard I prefer Jonathan, Cooper's Early White, Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Rawle's Janet, Dominie, Winesap; and for family orchard Jonathan, Winesap, Cooper's Early White, and Ben Davis. Have tried and discarded Yellow Bellflower on account of shy bearing. I prefer rolling upland, black, sandy loam with porous subsoil, and a southeast slope. I prefer two-year-old trees; have tried root grafts and seedlings with good success. I cultivate with a diamond plow up to bearing age. Windbreaks are essential, and I would make them of ash, box-elder, maple, and elm; I would plant either the young trees or seed. I prune with a saw, and use a chisel on watersprouts. I think it beneficial. I thin by shaking the tree when the fruit is small. I fertilize; think it benefits the trees, by making them grow stronger, and they fruit better; think it advisable on all soils. I pasture my orchard with hogs, but would not advise it; does not pay. Flathead borer and fall web-worm affect my trees. I spray, as soon as the bloom falls, with London purple. I sometimes sell my apples in the orchard, and sometimes from the cellar. I store apples in the cellar, and am successful. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from twenty-five cents to one dollar per bushel.

Theo. Bedker, Linn, Washington county: I have lived in Kansas thirty years; have an apple orchard of 100 trees from two to twelve years old. For market I prefer Ben Davis, and for a family orchard Winesap. I prefer bottom land with a sandy loam and a northeast aspect. I plant my trees in squares thirty feet apart. I cultivate my orchard for three years with a single-horse cultivator. Plant corn and potatoes in a young orchard; cease cropping after four years; plant timothy and clover mixed in bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of willows, by planting on north and south sides of the orchard. For rabbits I wrap the trees with corn-stalks in the winter, and dig the borers out. I prune my trees with a saw to make thinner; I think it beneficial, and that it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. I do not think it would pay. I fertilize my orchard with slaked lime, and would advise it on all soils. It helps to keep off borers. I do not pasture my orchard; do not think it advisable. My apple trees are troubled with bud moth, twig-borer, and leaf-crumpler, and my apples with curculio. I have sprayed when in bloom with London purple, but do not think I have reduced the codling-moth. I pick my apples by hand, and sort into two classes—good keepers and cider apples. Put them all in one pile and then sort. I prefer barrels or boxes, from three to twenty bushels; fill them full. I retail my apples. I sell the best in sacks by the bushel. Make cider for vinegar of the culls. Never tried distant markets. I dry some for home use in the sun; this is satisfactory. I am successful in storing apples in boxes and barrels in the cellar. I find the Rawle's Janet and Winesap keep best. I never tried artificial cold storage; I lose about one-twentieth of my stored apples. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from thirty-five to fifty cents per bushel.

John Fulcomer, Belleville, Republic county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-seven years; have raised for market Ben Davis, Winesap, and Jonathan; would prefer for family orchard Early Harvest, Red June, Duchess of Oldenburg, Cooper's Early White, Smith's Cider, Minkler, Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Ben Davis, Golden Sweet, and Maiden's Blush. Have tried and discarded about all varieties excepting the above named on account of being tender and unprofitable. I prefer bottom land, limestone soil with a gravel subsoil, and a northeast or eastern slope. I prefer for planting strong, stocky yearlings—never over two years old—set at the crossing of furrows plowed with a lister. I cultivate my orchard to potatoes, pumpkins, squashes, melons, or any low hoed crop. I use an ordinary ten- or twelve-inch plow, and a five-tooth cultivator, and keep this up until they begin to bear; then seed to clover, mow it, and let it rot on the ground; then let the clover seed fall under, harrow, and let come up again. Windbreaks are beneficial; would make them of ash and Osage orange, by planting a few rows of trees inside of the hedge. To protect against rabbits, I wrap the trees. I prune with a saw and knife to remove chafing and dead limbs, and to make the tree more healthy and vigorous. I think it beneficial. I never thin the fruit on the trees. I fertilize my orchard with coal and wood ashes; think it beneficial, and would advise their use on all soils. I do not pasture my orchard. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, and my apples with codling-moth. I never have sprayed to any extent. I hand-pick my apples, in one-half bushel splint baskets; sort into two classes as soon as picked.

Low. Miller, Perry, Jefferson county: Have lived in Kansas thirty years. Have an apple orchard of 2400 trees from one to fifteen years old. For commercial purposes I prefer Jonathan, Missouri Pippin, and Ben Davis, and for family orchard Early Harvest, Red Winter Pearmain, Cooper's Early White, and Rambo. I prefer bottom land, clay soil and a porous subsoil, with a north and east slope. I prefer two-year-old, low-headed, stocky trees, planted twenty-five by thirty feet. I cultivate my orchard to corn for six years, using a plow, cultivator, and harrow, and cease cropping after six or seven years. Grow only weeds in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of maples, planted two rods apart around orchard. For rabbits I keep two hounds and a shot-gun. I get after the borers with a knife. I prune with a knife to keep out watersprouts. Never have thinned fruit on the trees. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter, and think it has proven beneficial, but would not advise its use on all soils. I pasture my orchard with horses, but would not advise it. I doubt if it pays. My trees are troubled with borers, and my apples with codling-moth. I do not spray. Pick my apples by hand into sacks. I sort into three classes—first, second, and culls—into baskets from the ground. I sell apples in the orchard at wholesale. I market my best apples in barrels; sell second and third grades to vinegar and cider-mills. My best market is at home. Never tried distant markets. Do not dry any. I store some apples in bulk in a cellar, and am successful. Ben Davis and Missouri Pippin keep best. Prices have been seventy-five cents to $1.50 per barrel. I employ men and boys at one dollar per day.

Wm. Gurwell, Fanning, Doniphan county: I have lived in Kansas thirty-five years; have 5000 apple trees, planted from two to thirty years. For commercial orchard I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, Jonathan, White Winter Pearmain, and Rawle's Janet; and would add for family use Early Harvest and Dominie. Have tried and discarded Yellow Bellflower; not prolific in this climate. I prefer hill with black loam and clay subsoil; any slope but southwest is good. I prefer two-year-old trees, and set them in holes dug two and half to three feet square with a spade, and set the trees two or three inches deeper than they stood in the nursery. Have tried home-grown root grafts, and was successful. I cultivate to corn, potatoes, pumpkins, and melons, using plow and harrow. I crop a bearing orchard lightly, and cease when in full bearing. I kill the rabbits. I prune with saw, knife, and clippers, and think it beneficial. I seldom thin fruit on the trees. My trees are planted in blocks. I fertilize the land near the trees with stable litter; I would advise its use on thin soil. I pasture my orchard with calves and hogs, and think it advisable; it pays in some orchards. Trees are troubled with borers; I hunt the borers with a wire. We pick carefully in large baskets and sacks from a step-ladder; I pack in barrels. My best market is northwest of here; I sometimes sell in the orchard at wholesale, retail, and peddle; dry and make cider of the culls; never dry for market. I sometimes store a few apples, and find the Winesap, White Winter Pearmain and Rawle's Janet keep the best. We have to repack stored apples before marketing them. Do not irrigate. Prices have been from 60 cents to $1.25 per barrel. I employ all kinds of help, and pay one dollar per day.

Samuel H. Bert, Moonlight, Dickinson county: Have been in Kansas nineteen years; have 500 apple trees from four to twenty-two years planted; the oldest are twelve inches in diameter. For commercial purposes use Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and Janet, and for family use would add Red June and Maiden's Blush. Have tried and discarded Red Streak, Romanite, Rambo, and Bellflower. I prefer bottom in this locality with a northeast slope. I plant twenty-eight or thirty feet apart. I plant two-year-old trees; rather plant a yearling than three-year-olds. Have never tried root grafts or seedlings. I cultivate even my oldest trees, using a plow and harrow; it pays. I grow corn in young orchard until too large; then nothing, just cultivate. Windbreaks are essential, and should be made of Osage orange or mulberries; but not too close to the orchard. I tie corn-stalks around the trees to protect from rabbits, and keep the trees low, to shade the trunks to protect against borers. I prune to prevent forks, to keep from splitting. I thin apples when necessary; this should be done when they are about half grown. I prefer to plant my trees in blocks. An orchard should be fertilized with fine stable litter. I would advise the use of it, especially on upland soil. Never pasture my orchard. My trees are troubled with flathead borers. Never sprayed much, but think it would be beneficial. I pick in sack hung over shoulder. We make three classes of our apples—large, small, and specked. Have no particular way to market; sell any way I can, but never in the orchard. We make cider, boiled cider and apple-butter of the culls. Never have tried distant markets. Never dry any. Store some for winter in bulk and in barrels in cellar; am successful; find that the Winesaps keep best. Have never tried artificial cold storage. We have to repack stored apples before marketing; lost very few this winter, as I kept them out of the cellar until December; then they kept well. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from 60 cents to $1.50 per barrel.

G. E. Spohr, Manhattan, Riley county: Have resided in Kansas twenty-six years. Have an orchard of 3000 trees, nineteen years planted. Originator of the Spohr apple (described elsewhere). Plants for commerce Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and Ben Davis; for family orchard, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, Maiden's Blush, and Early Harvest. Have tried fifty varieties, but think none of them paid better than those named. I live on bottom land, eight feet to water. Any slope is good. Prefer sandy loam. Plant two-year-old, well-pruned trees, in large holes. Cultivate thoroughly, planting to corn until seven years old; then seed to alfalfa. I favor windbreaks of Scotch or Austrian pines, planted in three rows ten feet apart. I believe in pruning, and always have my knife open when in the orchard, and trim at all times; like to have trees, not brush piles. The deity governing Kansas winds thins the fruit sufficiently. Apple trees are more fruitful if varieties are mixed in planting. Use all the two- and three-year-old stable litter I can get. Do not pasture my orchard. Spray with London purple one week before and two weeks after blooming, for canker-worm, leaf-roller, and codling-moth, and have reduced the latter by it. I hunt the borers and go after them with a hot (?) iron. Pick by hand, and sort to suit customers. Pack in eleven-peck barrels, and mark with stencil. Sell my best apples to shippers, and make vinegar and hog and cattle feed of culls. My best market is Colorado, but I sell in orchard. I store successfully for winter in a cave in bulk, and find Winesap and Missouri Pippin the best keepers, losing about ten per cent. Prices average fifty cents per bushel. Pay help from $12.50 per month to 75 cents per day and board.

R. D. Osborne, Soldier, Jackson county: Have lived in the state thirty-one years; have 500 apple trees, from three to sixteen years planted. For commercial purposes I prefer Ben Davis, York Imperial, Gano, and Winesap; for family orchard, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and, for summer, Early Harvest, Maiden's Blush, and Cooper's Early White. Have tried and discarded Vandevere, as it does not bear, and Willow Twig on account of blight; Rawle's Janet no good on market. I prefer hilltop if well cultivated; otherwise bottom, with a loam soil and a sandy subsoil, and a southeast slope to protect from southwest winds. I plant two-year-old trees, three feet to head, not less than three limbs to form head, thirty feet each way. I cultivate with plow, harrow and spade the square immediately surrounding the tree. I plant corn in the young orchard and seed the bearing orchard to clover; cease cropping at five or six years. I think windbreaks essential on southwest, and would plant Osage orange or Russian mulberry. I wrap with grass or tarred paper to protect from rabbits. I prune in May to spread the top and thin the fruit. I seldom thin the fruit, but it will pay to thin the last of May. I fertilize with stable litter, but would advise it only on hill orchards. I pasture the orchard with hogs and horses, and think it advisable, and that it pays. My apples are troubled with codling-moth. I spray during May, after the blossom has fallen, with kerosene emulsion, sulphate of copper, and London purple, for codling-moth, blight, and insects generally. I think I have reduced the codling-moth. I treat borers with crude carbolic acid diluted with water. I dig around tree down to the roots, dam outside, fill around tree with water and acid strong enough to tingle your tongue. I hand-pick from ladders by the ordinary method. Never sell in orchard; make cider of second- and third-grade apples; feed culls to stock. My best markets are Holton and Topeka; never have tried distant markets. Never dry any. Store but few apples in an orchard cave, nine feet deep, eight feet wide by twenty-four feet long. The apples are put on shelves about ten inches deep.

H. L. Jones, Salina, Saline county: Have lived in Kansas forty-four years; have an apple orchard of 6000 trees, planted from five to twenty-five years. For market I prefer Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Jonathan, Lowell, Cooper's Early White, Grimes's Golden Pippin, and Wealthy. For family orchard would plant Early Harvest, Maiden's Blush, Jonathan, Winesap, Missouri Pippin. Have tried and discarded Alexander as a shy bearer which rots on the tree. Prefer bottom land here, sandy soil, free from clay or hard-pan. Preferable with northeast slope. Plant well-branched two-year-old trees; turn deep cross-furrows the distance the trees are wanted apart; cultivate in corn until the trees are five or six years old; after that use the plow and disc harrow and plant nothing. I emphatically believe that windbreaks are essential. They may be made of anything hardy and suitable, as Osage orange, box-elder, walnut, etc. To protect from rabbits, wrap with grass or corn-stalks. I only prune with shears and saw, to clear the limbs off the ground a little. I believe stable litter is good for an orchard. I pasture very little, and do not think it good for an orchard. I spray as soon as the leaves start, with Paris green or London purple, mostly for canker-worm, and doubt its effect upon codling-moth. Thrifty trees are not usually bothered with borers, and unthrifty trees should be made into firewood. Our pickers use sacks with strap over the shoulder. We sort into four classes: First, large, sound fruit; second, small sound fruit; third, slightly damaged fruit; fourth, culls. Very little packing is done here; apples are usually sold to shippers in bulk. I sell my culls to hundreds of farmers in this and adjoining counties for canning, apple-butter, etc. My best market is here in Salina. I have tried distant markets, but it did not pay very well. Have never dried any; stored but few for winter in baskets and barrels. I find the Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Rawle's Janet and Romanite are the best keepers. Our loss in keeping varies with the season and the condition of the apples at picking time. Have never irrigated any. Prices during the past six years have varied from twenty-five to fifty cents per bushel. I use men and boys to help pick and at spraying time in the spring, usually paying one dollar per day.

N. Christensen, Mariadahl, Pottawatomie county: I have lived in Kansas forty years. Have an apple orchard of four acres, from five to twenty-five years planted. For all purposes I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Winesap. I prefer second-bottom land with a black loam, a clay subsoil, and a northeast slope. I prefer good two-year-old trees planted thirty feet apart, alternated with peaches. I have cultivated my orchard to corn, but do not think it advisable. I used a plow, cultivator and disc for eight years. I have cultivated the young orchard both ways twelve times, and shall keep on with the disc and harrow. I cease cropping after six or eight years, and then grow alfalfa. Windbreaks are not essential. I use wire-cloth as a protection against rabbits; I would not risk an apple or pear tree without it. I prune with a knife, saw and shears when the trees are young; I think it beneficial, as it makes the trees healthier. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter; I spread it all over the ground and then harrow it in. I pasture my orchard with calves after it is six or eight years old and has been seeded to grass; I think it pays in an old orchard. My trees are troubled with tent-caterpillars and borers. I have not sprayed yet, but think I shall this spring with Bordeaux mixture. I pick my apples by hand; sort into two classes. I feed my second and third grades and culls to the calves and hogs; have made cider of them, but could not find market for it. I have tried shipping apples to distant markets, but it did not pay. I dry some apples for home use, using stove and sun; neither way is satisfactory. I store my best apples in bulk in a cellar under the house; am not very successful; I find Ben Davis and Winesap keep the best. Prices have been from twenty-five to fifty cents per bushel. I do not hire any help; the family does the work.

H. R. Roberts, Perry, Jefferson county: I have lived in Kansas since 1859; have an apple orchard from four to twenty-eight years old. For a commercial orchard I prefer Jonathan, Ben Davis, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and Maiden's Blush; and for a family orchard Red June, Maiden's Blush, Jonathan, Winesap, and Rawle's Janet. I prefer midland altitude or bottom, with a rich loam and a clay subsoil, and a northeast slope. I prefer two-year-old trees with upright heads, set 30×40 feet in squares. I cultivate my trees with a plow and cultivator until they occupy most of the ground. I plant corn and potatoes in a young orchard, and cease cropping when the size of the trees renders it impossible. I seed the bearing orchard to red clover. Windbreaks are not essential; a hedge fence is all that is necessary, and this ought not to be nearer than forty feet of the trees. For rabbits I wrap the trees; and dig the borers out with a knife. I prune sparingly with a knife or sharp ax to remove all dead or injured limbs; I think it pays. I thin the fruit when the trees are overloaded, by taking off one-half after they are the size of marbles. My trees are planted in blocks for convenience in picking. I fertilize my orchard with all the barn-yard litter I can get, scattered broadcast; would advise its use on all soils unless already very rich. I am sorry to confess I have pastured my orchard with hogs; it is not advisable. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, root aphis, roundhead borers, and buffalo tree-hopper; and my apples with codling-moth, curculio, and gouger. I have sprayed just as the buds open for canker-worm; have also sprayed for codling-moth. I pick all the apples I can reach from the ground in baskets, and the rest from ladders into sacks; I handle very carefully. I sort into two classes from a table as they come from the trees; pack in eleven-peck barrels for fall use, and twelve-peck barrels for winter use, carefully shaken and pressed; mark with the grade and name of variety and haul to market on wagon. I always sell in the orchard by car lots, when I can. I retail the scattered ones; send the third grade to the cider-mills. My best markets are sometimes both east and west of here. I never ship to commission men; it don't pay. I don't dry nor store any. I do not irrigate. I employ men and boys (men preferred). Pay one dollar per day and dinner.

W. D. Kern, Baldwin, Douglas county: I have resided in Kansas thirty-nine years. Have an apple orchard of 775 trees four years old. For market I prefer Missouri Pippin, Ben Davis, and Willow Twig, and for family orchard Yellow Transparent, Maiden's Blush, and Jonathan. I prefer a loose, porous subsoil on a north slope. I prefer one- or two-year-old trees, set twenty-two feet apart north and south and thirty-three feet east and west. I plant my orchard to corn, potatoes, and clover, and keep up the cultivation until they are bearing well, using a diamond plow and one-horse cultivator. I never cease cropping. Windbreaks are not essential, but if they were I should make them of four or five rows of maple or some quick-growing trees, on the south and west sides of the orchard. For rabbits I use wooden tree wrappers, and dig the borers out. I prune to give the tree shape and let in the sun; I think it pays, as it keeps the tree from overbearing. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees, but think it would pay. I fertilize my orchard with barn-yard litter, and would advise it on all soils when it needs it. I pasture my orchard with hogs; I think it advisable, and that it pays. My trees are troubled with canker-worms, tent-caterpillars, borers, tree-hoppers, and leaf-rollers, and my apples with codling-moth and curculio. I do not spray. I hand-pick my apples into buckets and sacks from step-ladders. I sell my apples in the orchard at wholesale. I sell the best to shippers, and the second and third grades the best way I can. I sell or feed the culls to the stock. Never tried distant markets. I do not dry any. Some years I am successful in storing apples in barrels and boxes in a cellar. Winesap and Missouri Pippin keep best. I never tried artificial cold storage. I have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about one-fourth of them. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from sixty cents to one dollar per eleven-peck barrel. I employ men at ten cents per hour.

James Sharp, Morris county: Have been in Kansas twenty-eight years. Have an orchard in Morris county of 8000 trees, planted from two to thirteen years. I grow for market Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Jonathan, and York Imperial; would add for family Early Harvest, Maiden's Blush, and Winesap. Have tried and discarded Yellow Bellflower, Lawver, Willow Twig, and Smith's Cider; the former is barren, the others blight. I prefer second bottom with northeast slope; soil loose, black loam, with red clay subsoil. I plant in furrows each way, 16×30 feet, running a subsoiler in the furrows, and use straight, smooth, two-year-old trees. Have tried root grafts, but they need nursery care at first. I cultivate at all ages, while young with plow, and old orchard with reversible disc. I grow corn in young orchard, and after five or six years keep the ground bare with the disc. I think windbreaks essential, and use Osage orange, elm, ash, Austrian pine, and cedars. Catch the rabbits; and cultivate well as a protection from borers. Do not prune much; take out a little brush if necessary to more readily reach the fruit. Never have thinned apples. Have never fertilized, and am decidedly opposed to pasturing orchards with any kind of stock. Am troubled with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, flathead borer, woolly aphis, twig-borer, fall web-worm, leaf-roller, leaf-crumbler, and codling-moth. Spray regularly with London purple; cannot say it has reduced the codling-moth any; for borers I keep my trees thrifty by constant cultivation. We pick in candy pails, but find it bruises the fruit too much. I sort by hand in three classes, commercial size Nos. 1 and 2, and culls. I pack in three-bushel barrels, stenciled with name of variety and grower, and ship by freight. Sell any way I can; have never sold in the orchard; sell culls for apple-butter, and make some cider; have marketed at good prices at Pueblo, Colo.; have never dried any for market. I store some for winter in boxes, barrels and in bulk in a cellar, and find that Ben Davis and Missouri Pippin keep best. I usually have to sort over those kept through, and lose perhaps one-fifth. Have never irrigated. My average returns are about fifty cents per bushel. For help I use men at one dollar per day.

James Wilson, Assaria, Saline county: Lived in Kansas twenty years; has an orchard of five acres, twenty-three years planted. For commerce he uses Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Jonathan, and for family use would add Maiden's Blush, Grimes's Golden Pippin, and Rawle's Janet. Has discarded Rambo as too shy a bearer. Prefers light soil, with a heavy subsoil in the bottom, with a southern slope. Plants thirty feet apart each way. Grows no crop in orchard, and cultivates with stirring plow and cultivator until the trees completely shade the ground. Believes windbreaks necessary, and would plant box-elder, three feet apart, in rows three feet apart, so as to shut out all wind. Binds with corn-stalks to protect against rabbits. Prunes by cutting off lower limbs and thinning center; says it is beneficial, and makes fruit larger and of better color. Thins apples on trees when the size of marbles, and believes it pays. On pollination he says: "I had one tree that stood alone, and never bore fruit until I got honey-bees; then it bore all right." Uses no fertilizers. Allows no live stock in the orchard. Has sprayed just after the blossom fell, with London purple and Bordeaux mixture, for the last five years, and it has reduced codling-moth. Uses knife and soap-suds for borers. Picks and sorts into three classes—sound and big, medium and affected, and culls. Sells in orchard and in Salina; makes vinegar and hog feed of culls. Never shipped any apples. Stores for winter by burying in bulk, and is successful. The Missouri Pippin and Rawle's Janet keep best. Prices from fifty to seventy-five cents per bushel. Uses boys from fourteen to twenty years of age for help, and pays fifty cents to one dollar per day with board.

J. W. Williams, Holton, Jackson county: I have lived in the state forty years; have an apple orchard of 225 trees of various ages, the oldest being thirty-nine years. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Winesap, and Jonathan; and for a family orchard Red Astrachan, Early Harvest, Dominie, Lowell, and Winesap. Have tried thirty varieties and discarded all excepting the above mentioned. I prefer a rich soil with a porous subsoil and a north slope; can see little difference between hilltop and bottom orchards. I prefer two-year-old trees, with symmetrical form, for setting; when planting I trim all affected roots and prune lightly; set them inclined to the southwest. I cultivate my orchard as long as it lives with a plow and harrow—plow shallow; plant the young orchard to potatoes, beans, vines, and sometimes corn, using a one-horse diamond plow, and am careful to harrow afterward. I cease cropping six or seven years after setting, and plant a bearing orchard to red clover. I think windbreaks are essential; would make them of most any kind of rapid-growing trees planted in groves on the east and south sides of the orchard. For rabbits I wrap the trees, and dig the borers out. I prune with a penknife to keep the trees in good shape. It pays if properly done, and is not too severe. I have thinned my fruit by hand when of the size of hickory-nuts. Think trees do best in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard with barn-yard litter and ashes; I think it beneficial, and would advise its use on all soils. I pasture my orchard with hogs part of a day at a time when the apples fall badly. Don't let them in at will. I think it pays and is advisable, for they destroy the moth. My trees are troubled with both round- and flathead borers, and my apples with codling-moth. I spray, using a hand sprayer, with Bordeaux mixture and London purple, when the blossom falls, for codling-moth and curculio. It has not been beneficial. I burn the [tent] caterpillars. I pick my apples by hand in a sack over the shoulder, and sort into three classes—first, finest; second, fair; third, culls. I sort from the ground or a table. I sell apples in the orchard, wholesale and retail, and have no trouble in selling my first-grade apples. I sell and make cider of the second and third grades, and also dry some of them. Feed the culls to hogs or other stock. My best market is at home. We dry some in a common dry-house which is very satisfactory; after they are dry we put them into sacks to keep from millers; we find a market for them, but it does not pay well. I am fairly successful in storing apples on shallow shelves in the cellar; Winesap and Rawle's Janet keep best. I do not irrigate. Apples have been about fifty cents per bushel, and dried apples three to five cents per pound.

Andrew Swanson, Dwight, Morris county: I have resided in Kansas seventeen years, and have an apple orchard of 1800 trees eight years old, eight to ten feet tall. For market I prefer Winesap, Ben Davis, and Missouri Pippin; and for family orchard would add Jonathan and Maiden's Blush. I have tried and discarded Rome Beauty, Huntsman's Favorite, and Minkler. I do not like them. I have upland, with a poor soil and a gumbo subsoil, with a north and east aspect. I prefer two-year-old trees, set thirty feet apart each way. I cultivate my orchard with a stirring plow, and intend to keep it up as long as I live; plant corn or any cultivated crop in the young orchard, and cease when there is no room; plant nothing in the bearing orchard. I think a hedge fence all around the orchard as a windbreak would be beneficial. For rabbits, I wrap the trees with wire screening, and leave it on. I prune my trees every winter, or when I have time, to thin the top and to give shape; I think it pays, and is very beneficial. I do not thin my fruit—the wind does that for me. I fertilize my orchard, and think it beneficial, and would advise it on all soils. I do not pasture my orchard; it is not advisable and does not pay. My trees are troubled with leaf-rollers and other insects. I give the culls to hogs. I am successful in storing apples in bulk in an arched cellar; Winesap, Ben Davis and Missouri Pippin keep best. I never tried artificial cold storage. I do not irrigate. Price has been seventy-five cents per bushel; dried apples eight to ten cents per pound.

F. B. Harris, White City, Morris county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-five-years, and have an orchard of 800 trees, planted from ten to fifteen years ago. For commercial purposes I prefer Maiden's Blush, Cooper's Early White, Ben Davis, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin. For a family orchard I would put out the same, adding Red June, Jonathan, and Smith's Cider. I have discarded the Willow Twig, as it rots too easily. I prefer hilltop, north slope, soil as deep as possible, and a gumbo subsoil. Would plant two-year-old trees with perfect crown growth, twenty feet north and south, thirty feet east and west. My last planting, ten years ago, was of root grafts, and I like it first rate. I grow corn in the orchard for about ten years, then nothing. I cultivate thoroughly, plowing until the soil is doubled, and then use the disc pulverizer. I believe windbreaks to be very, very, very essential, and would make of Osage orange on the outside, and any quick-growing forest-tree next to the orchard. For protection against rabbits, I tie with weeds and twine. I prune with a jackknife, a two-inch thin-bladed chisel, and mallet. It does pay, and is beneficial until the trees are ten years old. I tried thinning, but it proved more injury than profit. I use all the fertilizer from stables and stock-yards that I can get, spread all over the ground, and believe it would pay on any soil. I would allow no live stock in the orchard but poultry, and would not allow them to roost in the trees.

I have some trouble with tent-caterpillars, roundheaded borers, fall web-worm, and curculio. I spray with London purple, first when the bloom falls, then every ten days until three times, with a spray pump, using London purple. I do not know whether I have reduced the codling-moth any or not. I treat the borers with penknife and probe, others with rough handling—eternal, vigilant destruction. I pick from step-ladders into pails; place in sack to haul to the barn or shed. We sort into two classes—first, all sound and marketable, second for cider. I sort by hand from the pile, three or four bushels at a time. We pack in bushel-and-a-half sacks, filled from the half-bushel measure, mark with the name of variety, and haul to market in spring wagon. I retail and peddle them, making the culls into cider and vinegar. My best market is our nearest town; tried distant market last fall and it paid. We dry some, pack into tight boxes as soon as dried and store in dark place, and find a ready market at the stores at six cents per pound. It does not pay very well, but saves waste. I only store for family use, in headless barrels; generally keep well. Ben Davis keeps the best. We lose from one-fourth to one-half. I believe irrigation would be a good thing. Prices have been from thirty-five cents to seventy-five cents per bushel. Use only home help.

M. D. Weltner, Westmoreland, Pottawatomie county: Have been in Kansas eighteen years. Planted 800 apple trees ten years ago. I do not own this orchard at present. I planted Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Jonathan, and Maiden's Blush. I prefer sandy or black loam, with clay subsoil, bottom land or gentle slope to the north. I set good, thrifty, clean, two-year-old trees. I thoroughly plow my ground, then run a lister for the row, and throw out with spade or shovel where the trees are to go. I cultivate with potatoes and corn, using the plow, harrow, and five-tooth cultivator, until ten or twelve years old, then sow to clover. I use no windbreaks. For rabbits I wrap with building paper or wire screen. I believe it pays to prune with the knife and saw a little each year, to train the tree to grace, beauty, and profit. I never tried thinning fruit. Would fertilize with a little stable litter spread over the ground. Never would pasture an orchard. Had some canker-worm and curculio, but never tried spraying. I pick from a step-ladder into a shoulder sack.

V. E. Hathaway, Council Grove, Morris county: Have lived in Kansas thirty years; have an orchard of 1000 trees two to twelve inches in diameter. Have tried and discarded Willow Twig and Smith's Cider on account of blight. I prefer a gravel or clay bottom with northern slope. I prefer healthy trees set forty by twenty feet. I cultivate my orchard to corn until too large, plowing very shallow. Windbreaks are beneficial; would make them of cedar. I prune by cutting out the inner limbs that rub; I think it pays. I do not thin the fruit on the trees. I sometimes fertilize with stable litter; would advise its use on all soils. I do not pasture my orchard; do not think it advisable. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, and my fruit by codling-moth. I spray just after the blooms fall with London purple, and think I have reduced the codling-moth. I dig out insects not affected by spraying. I pick my fruit from inside of tree from a ladder. Sort into three classes. Pack in apple barrels, pressed down, and marked with the quality; then transport to market on a wagon. I wholesale, retail, and peddle; sometimes sell in the orchard. Feed the culls to hogs. My best market is at home; never tried distant markets. Do not dry any. I store apples in boxes or barrels, and am successful. I find Missouri Pippin, Winesap and Ben Davis keep best. We have to repack stored apples before marketing, and lose about one-eighth or one-tenth. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from fifty cents to one dollar per bushel.

S. Marty, Longford, Clay county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-eight years; have an apple orchard of 200 trees from seven to fifteen years old, eight to ten inches in diameter. Have tried and discarded Grimes's Golden Pippin and Willow Twig. I prefer sandy bottom, loam soil, with a north or northeast aspect. I prefer two-year-old, low, stocky trees, set in rows thirty-six feet each way. Have tried root grafts with very good success. I cultivate my trees eight years; first four to potatoes, using a disc harrow; plow shallow among young trees; plant nothing in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of Osage orange and box-elder on both south and west sides of the orchard. I trap and shoot the rabbits. I prune very little; only cut out the branches that interfere. I fertilize my orchard with barn-yard litter; I think it beneficial. I do not pasture my orchard; do not think it advisable. Do not spray. Sort into two classes: good and bad.

J. L. Steele, Minneapolis, Ottawa county: Have lived in Kansas fourteen years. Have 200 apple trees from six to twelve years old. I prefer bottom land with sandy loam and similar subsoil, north slope. I plant two-year-old trees branched near the ground, in deep furrows made by plow. Have tried root grafts with good success. I cultivate with corn and potatoes, using disc and harrow all the time; plant nothing in bearing orchard; cease cropping when about eight or ten years old. Windbreaks are essential, on the south; would make them of honey-locust, two or three feet apart in the row. I wrap the tree with corn-stalks to protect from rabbits. Have not been troubled with borers. I only prune out the limbs that interfere with others. Never thin apples. I fertilize with stable litter, and think it beneficial; would advise its use on all soils. I do not pasture my orchard; it does not pay. My trees are troubled with canker-worm. I spray with London purple when the worms first begin their work, to kill leaf-eating insects; do not think I have reduced the codling-moth. I irrigate with a 41/2-inch-cylinder pump and well.

J. C. Campbell, Campbell, Washington county: Have lived in Kansas fifteen years; have 250 trees from three to fourteen years old, eight to twelve inches in diameter. I prefer for family orchard Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Winesap, and Rawle's Janet. I prefer hilltop with deep soil and red subsoil, and an eastern slope. I prefer three-year-old trees, set 24×30 feet, as deep as they were in the nursery. I cultivate in buckwheat for eight years with the plow; after that plant nothing. Windbreaks are essential on the southwest or north and south; would make them of Osage orange; plant them forty feet distant and do not trim. For rabbits I wrap with corn-stalks and leave them on summer and winter. I prune with a saw; then cover the wound with wax; I think it beneficial. Have never thinned fruit. Never use fertilizer; do not think it advisable. Do not pasture my orchard; would not advise it. My trees are affected with twig-borer and leaf-roller. The codling-moth troubles my apples. I do not spray. I pick my apples early and leave them in piles in the orchard until cold weather.

William Young, Brantford, Washington county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-one years. Have 200 apple trees, five to twenty-five years planted, four to twelve inches in diameter. I prefer for commercial orchard Winesap, Ben Davis, and Rawle's Janet. I prefer bottom land, with black loam and clay subsoil. I prefer three-year-old trees, good, smooth bark, and three or four branches. Have tried root grafts and seedlings with good success. I cultivate in corn, using plow for thirteen years; plow toward the trees one year, then away the next. Windbreaks are essential, and I would make them of cottonwood, box-elder or catalpa planted in rows on the north side. Am not troubled with rabbits or borers. I prune with a saw and knife, to produce better fruit; I think it beneficial. I fertilize with stable litter and wood ashes; I would advise its use on all soils. I pasture my orchard with hogs; think it advisable, and that it pays. My trees are troubled some with insects; codling-moth troubles my apples. I pick my apples by hand into a basket, then sort and put in the cellar. I sort into two classes, good and bad; we sort as we pick them. I sell my apples at home and in town, sometimes in orchard; retail, wholesale, or peddle. Make cider for vinegar of culls. My best market is Clifton; never tried distant markets. Never dry any. I store some for winter market in thin layers on shelves, in cellar seven feet deep, and find the Winesap keeps best. Prevailing price has been eighty cents.

H. E. Penny, Hiawatha, Brown county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-eight years. Have 1800 apple trees—600 planted fifteen years, 1200 planted ten years. Grow nothing but Ben Davis. Planted two-year-old trees, twenty-four by thirty feet, on a southern slope. Cultivate in corn for ten years and then sow to clover. I prune only to keep the watersprouts from bothering the tree. I believe fertilizing pays, although I have not tried it. I never allow any stock but poultry in the orchard. I spray after the bloom has fallen, and ten days later, with Paris green, to destroy the codling-moth. We sort out only one grade, allowing the culls to rot. We pack in three-bushel barrels, and usually sell in the orchard at wholesale. Our best market is Minneapolis, Minn., but I have not made shipping pay. I have tried artificial cold storage; they did not keep satisfactorily, I do not know why. I had to repack, and lost over twenty per cent. Prices have varied from 75 cents to $1.50 per barrel. For help, I use boys at fifty cents to seventy-five cents per day.

J. D. Hazen, Leona, Doniphan county: Have been in Kansas forty years; have an apple orchard of 13,200 trees; 10,000 have been planted fourteen years, and 3200 for two years. I would plant nothing but Ben Davis for commercial purposes. For the family orchard I would add Winesap, Jonathan, and Rawle's Janet. Prefer rather high land, well underdrained, with a northeast slope. I plant good two-year-old trees, in rows two rods apart east and west, and the trees one rod apart in the row north and south. I grow corn or potatoes for six years, then seed down to clover. I cultivate the trees while young with a small one-horse plow. I think windbreaks essential on the south and west sides; Osage orange is good, set the same as for a fence, and allowed to grow tall. I wrap my trees against rabbits, and try all ways to destroy them. I prune with the saw to get the trees up so I can get around them, and believe it pays, or I would not do it. Have been at it fifteen years, and see no harm. Don't think it would pay to thin apples on the trees. I believe it is better to mix varieties in the orchard; I have 7000 Ben Davis and 300 Winesaps in one orchard, and where the Winesaps are mixed with the Davis the trees are always fuller. I believe fertilizing would be good, but my orchard is too large to practice it. I pasture with horses in the spring, and believe it does no harm, and that it pays.

Canker-worm is my worst insect pest, and I have been spraying for many years, using one pound of London purple to 160 gallons of water. I spray when the blossoms fall, using a big tank and a small engine to pump. I cannot say that I have reduced the codling-moth any by spraying. I cut borers out. I sort into two classes, No. 1's and No. 2's, bests and second bests; best ones go into firsts, and those that are not rotten in No. 2. I have a table, or what I call a culler; the apples are picked and put into these cullers; I have twelve men to each culler and a boss over them. They stand and cull the apples. I have the cullers numbered, so if any one puts up bad apples I can catch him. I use barrels for the No. 1's; fill and press so they will not shake. I put them up in good shape, and sell at wholesale to the first buyer that comes. I ship my culls and second-grade apples to western Kansas and to Nebraska in cars in bulk. I never send to commission men. I have never tried drying, or storing apples for winter. For family use I put away some in barrels, and keep the above varieties successfully. Prices, last year, two dollars per barrel; a year ago, one dollar per barrel; two years ago, $1.50 per barrel. I use any help I can get, paying seventy five cents per day and board.

J. B. Avery, Clifton, Washington county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-eight years; have an apple orchard of 1500 trees, from five to fourteen years planted, three to fifteen inches in diameter. For planting I prefer two-year-old whips. I cultivate my orchard to potatoes or any hoed crop, when it is first planted; keep this up as long as the roots and branches will admit. I have used a disc and common drag harrow for the last three years. I plant my bearing orchard to clover. I prune my trees with a pruning knife and saw when necessary. I fertilize my orchard with thoroughly rotted stable litter. I think it beneficial and would advise its use on all soils. I have pastured eight acres of my orchard with calves; have not seen any injury. I sort my apples into three classes—first, second, and culls. I sell my apples to neighbors, restaurants, stores, etc. The culls I dry, make cider, feed to pigs, and give away. Clifton is my best market; have never tried distant markets. I store some in boxes, barrels and sacks in a cellar.

T. S. Anderson, Oneida, Nemaha county: Have been in Kansas twenty-seven years; have an orchard of 1000 trees fifteen years old, ten to eighteen inches in diameter. Prefer for market Ben Davis and Winesap; for family use, many kinds. Have discarded Rawle's Janet, Early Pennock, Bellflower, and Russets. I prefer limestone soil; bottom land with northern slope. I plant two-year-old, straight-bodied, thrifty looking, live trees. I cultivate in corn, with riding plow, for six years, and then seed to grass. I believe a windbreak is essential, and would make it of Osage orange, maple, or cottonwood. I prevent rabbits and borers by painting with ashes and lime. I prune with saw and knife to make larger apples, and give them better color, and think it pays. I do not thin, and would put fertilizer from the barn-yard on the land. I pasture my orchard with cattle and hogs, but do not think it advisable. I am troubled some with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, root aphis, borers, codling-moth, and curculio, but do not spray. I gather only the best by hand, and put them immediately in a bin in the cellar. I sell to stores, use plenty at home, make cider, and feed the hogs on culls. My best market is Seneca, Kan. Have never tried drying apples. I store for winter on shallow shelves, six inches deep and two feet wide, in a dry cellar, and keep them successfully; Ben Davis and Winesap keep the best. Prices have ranged from twenty-five to seventy-five cents per bushel. I use common laborers, and pay from one to two dollars per day.

Howard Morton, Tescott, Ottawa county: I have lived in Kansas thirty-two years; I have twenty old apple trees and 400 set two years ago. I prefer Ben Davis, Gano and York Imperial for market, and Maiden's Blush, Early Harvest and Winesap for family use. My orchard is in a bottom with a north slope. I plant two-year-olds with a fair amount of large roots, in furrows made with a lister, and enlarged with a spade where necessary. I cultivate with a disc harrow as long as possible, and grow nothing on the ground among the trees. I believe windbreaks are essential, and would make them by planting Osage orange, Russian mulberry and box-elders in rows six feet apart. I do not prune much; only thin out inside shoots to prevent contact. I believe it pays to thin the fruit some when the apples are perhaps half grown. I use no fertilizers. I do not pasture my orchard. I spray a little before the buds swell, after the blossoms fall, and two weeks later, with Bordeaux mixture, to prevent wormy apples. I dig out borers with a jack-knife and a small wire.

I. N. Macy, Longford, Clay county: Have lived in Kansas fifteen years; have 150 apple trees nine years old, from fifteen to eighteen feet high. For family orchard prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, and Jonathan. I prefer bottom land. I plant two-year-old trees. I cultivate in corn for the shade as long as there is room, using the plow, cultivator, and harrow, and cease cropping when trees shade the ground. Windbreaks are beneficial on the south. I prune to balance the top and prevent the limbs from chafing; I think it beneficial. I never thin apples. I fertilize my orchard with barn-yard litter, keeping my ground as rich as a garden, and would advise its use on all soils. I never pasture my orchard; it is sure death to it; allow nothing larger than chickens in it. I spray only for canker-worms, using Paris green and lime, when in bloom; am successful. I do not irrigate.

A. C. Griesa, Lawrence, Douglas county: I have lived in Kansas thirty years. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Gano, Jonathan, and Missouri Pippin, and, for a family orchard, the leading medium early and late sorts. I prefer upland or second bottom with a clay subsoil; all slopes, if well drained, are good, excepting south. I prefer good two-year-old trees, set in land laid off with a plow. I plant my orchard to corn for four years and use an eight-tooth cultivator; cease cropping when the trees are four or six inches in diameter; plant clover in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are not essential in this locality. For rabbits I wrap the trees, and dig the borers out. I prune when the trees are young to thin the top; I think it beneficial and that it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees, but would advise doing so when the fruit is one-third grown. I fertilize my orchard with barn-yard litter, and would advise its use, especially on uplands. I do not pasture my orchard; do not think it advisable; it does not pay. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, root aphis, flathead and roundhead borers, and woolly aphis; and my apples with codling-moth. I do not spray, but would advise it. I am sure it would reduce the codling-moth. I hand-pick my apples in a sack over the shoulder.

A. G. Axelton, Randolph, Riley county: I have lived in Kansas forty years; have an apple orchard of 300 trees eighteen years old, sixteen feet high. For a family orchard I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Winesap, and Maiden's Blush. I prefer black bottom land with a clay subsoil, and a northern slope. For planting I prefer two-year-old, straight, smooth trees. I cultivate my orchard till the trees begin to bear, with a cultivator and hogs, planting nothing. Windbreaks are not essential. For rabbits I wrap the trees with paper. I do not prune my trees, nor thin the fruit while on the trees. I do not fertilize. I pasture my orchard with hogs at certain times in the spring when worthless apples are dropping. My trees are troubled with canker-worm and tent-caterpillar. I do not spray. I pick my apples by hand and carry them to the cellar. I do not store any apples for winter market.

C. H. Taylor, Eskridge, Wabaunsee county: Have lived in Kansas thirty-eight years. Have 1400 apple trees, five to fifteen years old, six to twelve inches in diameter. For market I grow Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Jonathan; for family orchard I would advise Winesap, Rawle's Janet, Cooper's Early White, Maiden's Blush, and Jonathan; and I would discard nearly all others. I prefer bottom land, with black loam and open subsoil, north slope. Would plant one- or two-year-old, low-top trees, twenty-five feet apart each way. I have grown root grafts with success. I shall cultivate as long as the trees live, growing corn among them until the growth of the trees prevents it. I believe all the windbreak necessary is an ordinary fence. I use traps for the rabbits and a knife for the borers. I thin the fruit on the trees in the early summer, after they are well set. I believe barn-yard fertilizer beneficial to any orchard. I pasture my orchard with hogs, and think it advisable, and that it pays. I have some insects, but do not spray; I burn some. I pick by hand in half-bushel baskets; sort into two classes, market and cider; pack into barrels, and usually sell in the orchard at wholesale. Never shipped to a distant market. Do not dry any. Have stored some for winter in the cellar in bulk, and find that the Missouri Pippin, Winesap and Rawle's Janet keep the best. I do not irrigate. Price averages about twenty-five cents per bushel. I use ordinary farm hands at fifteen to twenty dollars per month.

Frank Seifert, Strawberry, Washington county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-eight years; have an apple orchard of 150 trees, from three to twenty years planted. For commercial purposes I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Winesap, and for family orchard would add Maiden's Blush. Have tried and discarded Willow Twig on account of blight. I prefer limestone upland with an eastern aspect. I prefer three-year-old trees for planting. I cultivate my orchard for eight or ten years with a plow and harrow. I seed bearing orchard to red clover. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of one row of box-elder and two rows of plums. I fertilize my orchard with straw and hay, and think it advisable, on all soils. I never pasture my orchard; it is not advisable. I do not spray. I pick my apples the old way. [?] Sell my apples in the orchard. I sometimes store for winter in bulk in an arched cellar, and am successful. I find the Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin and Winesap keep equally well. Prices have been from fifty to seventy-five cents per bushel.

J. T. Travis, Aurora, Cloud county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-six years; have an apple orchard of seventy-five trees from five to twenty years old. I prefer low land, black loam soil with clay subsoil, and a northern slope. I prefer two-year-old trees, straight, with no forks, the limbs low down, planted in furrows made by a plow. I cultivate my orchard as long as I can get through it, with potatoes and sweet corn, using a harrow often enough to keep weeds down and ground smooth. Cease cropping when the trees get too large for sweet corn to do any good. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of Russian mulberry, planted in two or three rows, eight to ten feet apart, on all sides of the orchard. I prune little, only enough to thin out the tops and keep limbs from rubbing each other, and to give light. I fertilize my old orchard with any kind of coarse stable litter; I pile it in heaps between the trees and let it lay until it rots. I pasture my orchard with hogs when it grows to wild rye and is too large for me to plow; I think it advisable only when the trees get foul; it pays if not pastured with too many and they are not kept on too long. My trees are troubled with leaf-roller, and my apples with codling-moth. I have sprayed, but only to a limited extent.

Sam Kimble, Manhattan, Riley county: Have been in Kansas thirty-eight years. Have an orchard of 2500 trees not yet in bearing. They have been planted three, four and five years. I have set out for market Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Winesap, and for family use about thirty kinds, in variety. I am located on upland, with clay subsoil, mainly northwest slope. I planted three-year-old trees, stocky and low headed, in holes twenty-five by thirty feet apart, getting on my knees to work the soil in about the roots. I crop to corn, cultivating well, and shall keep this up as long as three rows can be fairly grown between two rows of trees. I believe in plowing if you do not get too close to the trees. When my orchard comes into bearing I shall keep up the cultivation but grow no crop. I believe windbreaks are very desirable, and should make them of cottonwood, elms, or any quick-growing forest-trees. To keep off rabbits I tie on corn-stalks with binder twine. I prune carefully to shorten the heads and keep down watersprouts, and believe it beneficial. I believe thinning will pay when the fruit sets too thickly. I believe in lots of fertilization, and use all the stable litter I can get; I don't think you can use too much. I believe that young calves might be pastured to advantage in an old orchard. Have not sprayed any, and depend on rains for water.

J. B. Starns, Fairmount, Leavenworth county: Have lived in the state forty-one years; have 1800 apple trees, extra large, seventeen years old. Planted for market Ben Davis, Winesap, Jonathan, and Missouri Pippin; and for early use Early Harvest, Cooper's Early White, Maiden's Blush, and the Gennettan. Have discarded the Red June as too small and falling too badly. My ground is black loam upland, sloping north and east. I planted two-year-old trees in furrows made by the plow, twenty by thirty-two feet. Would cultivate in corn for five years, using the breaking-plow and cultivator; then sow to clover. Windbreaks are not necessary here. I trap the rabbits. For borers I bank around the trees in May, and take it away in September; this exposes the tree, and the borers are taken out easily with a knife. I prune some, and think it pays to take off watersprouts and shape the tree a little. Do not thin, and do not fertilize. I pasture in the spring and fall, after the apples are gathered, with pigs; it is an experiment. I have some tent-caterpillar, twig-borer, and codling-moth. Have never sprayed any. I pick in sacks and baskets, emptying into bushel boxes, which are hauled on wagons made for that purpose, to the place for packing. I make three grades: shippers, seconds, and cider or driers. The boxes are taken from the wagon and culled, and shippers packed in barrels; the rest are put in piles, which are afterward culled, and the seconds put by themselves. We mark barrels with name of variety, and haul to market on wagons made for the purpose. We often sell at wholesale in the orchard; we sell the seconds in bulk. My best market is Leavenworth; have never shipped any away. Have never dried any, and do not store any for winter. Prices have ranged from 50 cents to $1.75 per barrel. I use men only, and pay $1.50 per day.

D. N. Barns, Leavenworth, Leavenworth county: I have lived in Kansas thirty-seven years; have 2000 apple trees twenty years old. The best for commercial purposes is New York Pippin [Ben Davis]. For family orchard I prefer Jonathan, Winesap, Minkler, Huntsman's Favorite, and Lowell. I have tried and discarded Nonesuch. I prefer bottom land, with black loam soil and clay subsoil, with south slope, in my locality. I plant good, stout, thrifty trees, two to three years old, sixteen and one-half by thirty-three feet apart. I cultivate until the trees are large enough to shade the ground. In the young orchard, for the first seven or eight years, I usually grow corn, wheat, or oats; in a bearing orchard I grow orchard-grass and timothy and clover, separate or together. I have not yet ceased cropping. I believe windbreaks are essential, made of hills, trees, or hedge fence. For this purpose I would advise to first find the hills; then plant the orchard and trees or hedge. I dig out the borers, and trap or shoot the rabbits. I believe it pays to prune some to get rid of surplus wood. I believe it pays to thin apples and I do it in July. I fertilize by pasturing with cows, and believe it pays. Am troubled with some insects, but have never sprayed. We pick from a ladder, each man carrying two baskets; we sort into two classes on a table. In the first class we put apples not damaged too much and large enough, and in the other we place the small ones.

J. F. Ruhlin, Wetmore, Nemaha county: Has been in Kansas seventeen years. Owns an apple orchard of 1150 trees, set out from one to three years. Set Ben Davis, Jonathan, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and for family orchard would add the Maiden's Blush, Rambo, Rome Beauty, and Grimes's Golden Pippin. Has discarded Early Harvest, Red June, and Red Astrachan. Wants upland always, north or northeast slope if possible, and a loose, friable soil, with gravelly subsoil. On planting, he says he uses two-year-old, short, stocky trees with bushy tops and lots of roots, which he prunes back at setting. Sets trees deeper than they grew at the nursery, 20×30 feet. Puts a barrel half full of soil and water on a sled, and puts ten to twenty trees into it at a time; takes out a tree and sets it with as little exposure of roots to the air as possible. Cultivates well, keeping the ground clean in the tree row all summer. This winter, 1897-'98, he saw fine ten-year-old trees completely girdled by mice, in an orchard that was neglected last summer, and weeds and grass allowed to grow next the trees; these held the snow around the trees, and allowed the mice to burrow under to the tree. Grows corn as a protection to the trees in summer, using a five-tooth one-horse cultivator, shallow and often, near the trees, until they begin to bear, when he sows to clover, and mows frequently. Thinks windbreaks are essential, and if used would make them of Osage orange or mulberry, not very close to trees on north and west sides. Protects from rabbits by wrapping with corn-stalks and will try leaving them on this summer as a protection from sun-scald. Prunes interlocking limbs to get into shape; believes it beneficial. Believes thinning would pay on choice varieties if tree was very full. Believes in using all the barn-yard litter possible, especially on poor soil. Never has pastured orchard, but might put in horses or sheep. Thinks it would hardly pay. Never has sprayed, but believes in it. Digs out borers. Prefers to wholesale fruit in orchard.

Joseph C. Rea, Brenner, Doniphan county: Have been in Kansas twenty-seven years. Have 4000 trees six to twelve years old. I prefer for commercial orchard Ben Davis and Missouri Pippin; add, for family orchard, Minkler. Discarded Lawver because it did not bear. I prefer side-hill, clay loam, with a north slope. Prefer trees without forks, and plant a little deeper than in the nursery. I cultivate with the plow and cultivator until they begin to bear. I plant a young orchard to corn, a bearing orchard to clover, and cease cropping when they begin to bear. Windbreaks are not essential. I wrap my trees with corn-stalks to protect from rabbits. I prune to improve the fruit, and think it beneficial. Never dry apples. Think that if Jonathans are planted near other trees they are better, bigger, and fuller. Winesap and Chenango Strawberry are varieties adjoining mine. Do not fertilize; would not advise its use. Do not pasture orchard; not advisable. My trees are troubled with buffalo tree-hopper. I dig borers out. I pick by hand and sort from a table. I sort into three classes—first, the fairest and reddest; second, smaller and paler; third, rough and poor. I prefer three-bushel barrels to pack in; fill as full as possible, and mark with my name. I sell in orchard, also wholesale. Leave culls on ground. My best market is home; the buyers come and get them. I store in barrels, and find that Minkler and Mammoth Black Twig keep best. I got $1000 for 805 barrels last year. I employ young men and boys, and pay $1.25 to $1.50 per day.

Eli Hoffman, Donegal, Dickinson county: Have been in Kansas nineteen years. Have 500 apple trees, nine years planted, made up of 150 Ben Davis, 150 Missouri Pippin, 75 Winesap, and 125 of summer and fall varieties. I prefer bottom land; don't want hilltop, unless level; don't want any slope; would subsoil the year before planting, then plant twenty-four feet apart each way the following year. Grow corn or potatoes the first four years, and after that, nothing. Cultivate up to nine years old; the disc and corn cultivator are good the first years; I keep it as clean as a California orange grove; cease cropping after four years. I think windbreaks are necessary, and would make them of a double row of mulberries eight feet apart. For rabbits I put wire screen around the trees. I use the pruning-knife and saw to give air. I would not pasture an orchard. Have not sprayed, but intend to, with London purple.

E. M. Glaspey, Nortonville, Jefferson county: Have lived in Kansas fourteen years. Have 700 apple trees from twenty to twenty-five years old. Prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin and Winesap for market; and Winesap, Golden Sweet and Early Harvest for family use. I prefer bottom land with a north aspect, soil suitable for wheat is good for apples; would turn in cattle after the crop is gathered, and think it pays. When the bloom falls I spray with London purple. I pick in half-bushel baskets and place in large piles in the orchard. I sort into three grades; No. 1 is best, which I generally sell to shippers; No. 2 next, which I sell in the city to families or to dealers; the culls I peddle out, and also make into cider. My best market is Atchison. I shipped once to a commission house in Topeka, but it did not pay. I never dry any; sometimes I store for winter in bulk in the cellar, and find that Missouri Pippin and Willow Twig keep the best. I employ men and boys at seventy-five cents to one dollar per day.

W. H. Tucker, Effingham, Atchison county: Has lived in Kansas thirty-eight years; has an orchard of 500 trees, 200 of them planted twenty years and 300 planted six years. Advises for commercial orchard Ben Davis, Gano, and Missouri Pippin, and adds to them for family orchard Early Harvest, Maiden's Blush, Genneting, and Jonathan. Has discarded Smith's Cider. Prefers rich, sandy upland with red clay subsoil, with a northeast slope. He planted vigorous four-year-old trees, first plowing, then twice harrowing; then furrow out deeply each way thirty feet apart, and set a tree at each crossing. He cultivates with ordinary tools from six to eight years, until trees begin to bear, growing corn, potatoes or beans in the orchard; then seeds to clover. Believes windbreaks essential and makes his of soft maple, ash, and walnut. For rabbits he uses Frazer's axle grease, and kills borers with knife. Prunes little until after the trees are fifteen years old; prunes only to give shape and keep from being too brushy. Uses stable manure and lime as fertilizers and believes it would pay on all soils he ever saw. Pastures his old orchard with hogs at certain times of the year, and says it pays. Is troubled some with insects, and sprays twice each year with London purple. Has not been fully successful. Picks in baskets and sacks. Makes two grades—selects and sound fair size. Packs only in barrels; often sells in orchard. For last few years has used a few culls for vinegar, and let the rest rot on the ground. Best market is at home. Has tried distant markets and made it pay. Never dries any, and for the last six years has stored none for winter. Prices have ranged from twenty to forty cents per bushel. Uses farm help at seventy-five cents to one dollar per day.

J. F. Hanson, Olsburg, Pottawatomie county: Have lived in Kansas thirty years; have an orchard of 1500 trees, ten and twelve years old. Use for commercial purposes Winesap, Jonathan, and Missouri Pippin. For family use I add Maiden's Blush and Early Harvest. My land is a black loam, in the bottom, with an east slope. I plow deep, then list a furrow each way, and plant at the crossing. I usually grow millet in the orchard for seven or eight years, and then—if anything—clover or orchard-grass. I believe windbreaks are essential, and would place on the north and west sides Osage orange or mulberry trees. For rabbits, I wrap my trees. For the borers, I use whitewash. I do not pasture. I have some insects, but have not sprayed. I pick by hand, and sort into two classes, according to size and quality. I retail my best in the orchard and elsewhere; of the culls I make cider. I store for winter in barrels in the cellar; am successful in keeping Winesap, Jonathan, and Missouri Pippin, losing only about one-tenth. Prices have run from twenty cents to one dollar per bushel. For picking, I use boys from town.

William J. Henry, Lowemont, Leavenworth county: Been in Kansas twenty-seven years; have 2500 apple trees; 1600 bearing and 900 younger. For market varieties I use Ben Davis and Jonathan; for family orchard, Winesap, Rawle's Janet, Maiden's Blush, and Early Harvest. I prefer bottom land for Ben Davis and hilltop for Jonathan; northeast slope is best. The soil preferred for most apples should be clay, while for Ben Davis I prefer black loam. I plant good healthy two-year-olds, twenty-four by twenty-four feet on the hill, and thirty by thirty feet in the bottom. I have grown root grafts with great success. I cultivate in corn for six years, with a diamond and shovel plow, with a single horse, and by all means avoid a turning plow. After this I grow weeds or clover, but use a mowing-machine. Windbreaks are essential here, and should be made of a heavy hedge or forest on the northwest. I wrap with brown paper for mice and rabbits. Use a knife on borers, which are the only insects that bother me. I prune to shape the tree when young, and to increase the quality of the fruit when older; it is beneficial, and pays. Winds in Kansas are more than sufficient for thinning purposes, and often thin to excess. I have tried apple trees in blocks of a kind, and also mixed, and can see no difference in fertility. I use stable litter, rotten straw, etc.; it is next to cultivation. I would always use such on thin soil, and on rich soil if it is not cultivated. I turn any and all kinds of stock in after gathering the fruit, and think it pays, but I would not allow any live stock in a young orchard. I am troubled some with canker-worm, flathead borer, and codling-moth. I spray from the shedding of the bloom until of the size of peas, using London purple, to perfect the fruit. I believe I have reduced the codling-moth some. For picking I use good careful hands, with baskets and ladders. We sort on a cull table in the orchard into No. 1 and No. 2. I prefer eleven-peck barrels, filled full enough to head without bruising, stencil the end and haul to market in a lumber wagon. I often sell in the orchard my best apples in barrels; the second grade I often sell in the orchard, too; third grade I peddle; culls I make into cider. My best local market is Lowemont; best distant market is Denver, Colo. I never dry any. I store in an out cellar covered with dirt, in barrels, and find Winesap keeps the best. I lose about one-tenth. Prices for the last four years have run from 75 cents to $1.50 per barrel. I use the most careful men, and pay seventy-five cents and board, or $1.25 without board.

Chas. Warden, Leonardville, Riley county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-seven years; have an apple orchard of 300 trees, from five to sixteen years planted. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin; and for family, Maiden's Blush, and some other varieties. I prefer hilltop with black loam and clay subsoil, with an eastern slope. I plant two- and three-year-old trees in deep furrows thrown out with a plow. I plant my orchard to potatoes and beans for eight years, using a cultivator, and cease cropping when the trees shade the ground; plant nothing in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of soft maple, Russian mulberry, or ash, two rows around the orchard, three rods from the apple trees. To protect from rabbits, I wrap the trees with stalks and straw. I prune my trees with a saw, so that I can get in to pick the fruit. I think it beneficial. I never thin the fruit while on the trees. I fertilize my orchard; think it has been beneficial, and would advise it on all soils. Do not pasture my orchard. Trees are troubled with tent-caterpillar. I spray after the apples have formed, with London purple, to kill the insects. After picking my apples, I leave them in piles in the orchard until cold weather, when I carry them in. Sort into two classes—cider, and selling; peddle my best apples, and make cider of the second and third grades. Clay Center is my best market. Never dry any. I store some for winter on shelves eight inches deep, and am successful. I find Winesap keeps best. We have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about fifteen per cent. I do not irrigate. Price has been seventy-five cents per bushel. I employ men at one dollar per day.

Phillip Lux, Topeka, Shawnee county: I have lived in Kansas thirty years. Have an apple orchard of 1200 trees from six to nine years old. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Jonathan, York Imperial, and Grimes's Golden Pippin, and for family would add to the above Benoni, Maiden's Blush, Early Harvest, Red June, Duchess of Oldenburg, Early Ripe, and Yellow Transparent. Have tried and discarded Willow Twig, Smith's Cider, Kansas Keeper, Wagener, Talman Sweet and White Winter Pearmain on account of blight and other good reasons. I prefer clay upland and subsoil, with northeast aspect. I use only number one two-year-old trees, planted in furrows opened up with a plow, and deep enough to receive them without the use of a spade. I plant sixteen by thirty-two feet. I cultivate my orchard to corn for four or five years, using a hoe, plow, and five-shovel cultivator with one horse; cease cropping after four or five years; grow clover and weeds in a bearing orchard, mowing twice a year and let lay on the ground. Windbreaks are not absolutely necessary. For rabbits I find wood veneers to be best and cheapest; they come in blocks; turn one end to the sun or fire to dry; then put on coal-tar and stick this end in the ground. I prune a little during the first five years after planting, keeping the heaviest part of top to the southwest. It will always pay if judiciously done. I never thin my apples while on the trees. Do not pasture the orchard with anything but chickens; it pays in eggs. My trees are troubled with roundhead borer, fall web-worm, leaf-roller, and canker-worm, and my apples with codling-moth. Have not sprayed, but soon intend to, with London purple. I dig borers out with a knife. I pick apples in half-bushel baskets; sort into two classes, putting all fine, sound and good size in first grade. I pack in three-bushel barrels and send to market as soon as ready by railroad. I sometimes sell my apples in the orchard. I also wholesale and retail, and sell the second and third grades where I can get the most for them; feed the culls to stock or let rot. Have tried distant markets and found it paid. Do not dry any.

Fayette A. Smith, Belleville, Republic county: I have lived in Kansas thirty-one years; have an orchard of 200 apple trees from six to eight years old. For commercial purposes I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin; and for family, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and Rawle's Janet. I have tried and discarded Cooper's Early White; it is too tender. I prefer two feet of good soil on a hill; don't care what is below if drainage is good; think a northern slope best. I prefer fresh, vigorous, two-year-old trees with well-formed top, set in land plowed for two preceding years in deep furrows both ways; open holes with hoe, then tramp dirt well around roots. I cultivate my orchard with corn or potatoes for ten or fifteen years, using a small one-horse stirring plow, wrapping the ends of the singletree. Cease cropping when the trees get too large. Windbreaks are not essential, but think they might be beneficial to some kinds, on the south side, to protect from hot winds. Would make them of Russian mulberry or willows. Any smell of blood or fresh meat will keep the rabbits off; I do not like wrappers, as they harbor vermin. I prune my trees some, cutting out small limbs to let in light; think it beneficial. I thin the fruit on my trees by knocking them off with a pole, if I can't do better, at any time; it pays when overloaded. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter; do not put it close to trees; think it beneficial if not too coarse; would advise its use on soils where it will not force too rank a growth. I pasture my orchard with growing calves, but do not think it advisable; it does not pay. My trees are troubled with tent-caterpillar, flathead borer, and leaf-roller; and my apples with codling-moth and curculio. I do not spray; but think it would be beneficial. I pick my apples from a common orchard platform ladder. Do not raise any apples for market. Do not dry or store any, or irrigate. Prices have been twenty-five to sixty cents in the fall, fifty cents to one dollar in the winter. Average about sixty cents per bushel for good apples. Dried apples have been five to seven cents per pound.

J. F. Cecil, North Topeka, Shawnee county: I have lived in Kansas twenty years. Have an apple orchard of 200 trees, six to eight years planted, three to four inches in diameter. I prefer for market Winesap, Grimes's Golden Pippin, York Imperial, and Missouri Pippin; and for family orchard Red June, Benoni, Summer Rambo, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Jonathan, Winesap, and Rawle's Janet. My orchard is situated on a hill. I prefer mulatto soil, with red subsoil. I prefer young, thrifty trees, planted in furrows made with a plow and subsoiler. I plant my orchard four to six years with any cultivated crop; if it is corn or potatoes I use an ordinary corn cultivator; at other times I use an Acme harrow. I cease cropping when the trees begin to bear, and then plant to clover. Windbreaks are essential; I would make them of Osage orange, evergreens, or any body of timber, placed so remote that the orchard is not deprived of its nourishment. For rabbits I wrap the trees, and use potash for borers. I trim my trees while young with a knife, to encourage low heads; it pays if done moderately. It pays to thin Winesap and Rawle's Janet while on the trees. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter; would advise its use on all soils. Do not pasture my orchard. Trees are troubled with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, bagworm, flathead borer, buffalo tree-hopper, fall web-worm, leaf-miner, and leaf-crumpler; and my apples with codling-moth and curculio. I have spayed with Paris green for the above-mentioned insects; am satisfied that I have checked them.

James M. Williams, Home, Nemaha county: I have lived in Kansas nearly eighteen years. I have 400 apple trees, fifteen years planted, and of good size. I prefer bottom land, black soil, with clay and limestone subsoil, sloping a little to the south. I prefer to plant good three-year-old trees, twenty-four by thirty feet apart; I cultivate all the time with cultivator and harrow. I grow corn in the orchard from eight to ten years, and oats after that. I think windbreaks are essential, and would make them of native timber, planted south of the orchard. I prune with a knife and saw, and believe it makes the fruit larger and better; I never thin on the tree. I like to put plenty of stable litter and old straw at the roots of the tree in winter. I pasture with hogs after the oats come up; they eat all the windfall apples and thus destroy insects. Am troubled some with caterpillars, borers, and codling-moth. Have never sprayed any. I pick by hand in sacks, from step-ladders, and put in piles. We sort by hand into three classes—No. 1's and No. 2's for market, and No. 3 for the hogs. I sell my best by the wagon-load in the orchard; my seconds I sell the same way, but cheaper. I never dry any. I store in the cellar, in barrels, for winter sales to winter dealers. I find the best keepers are Winesap and Rawle's Janet. Prices in the fall, forty cents; in the winter, seventy-five cents. I hire men for help and pay one dollar per day and board.

H. C. Cooper, Morganville, Clay county: I have been in Kansas twenty-eight years; have 300 apple trees, planted fifteen and nineteen years. The best for commercial purposes are Winesap, Missouri Pippin, Ben Davis, and Rome Beauty; for family use, Red Astrachan, Early Harvest, Grimes's Golden Pippin and Winesap. I have tried and discarded Willow Twig; it rots on the tree, and, by the time it gets to bearing, dies. The Snow rots on the south side and dies. The Keswick Codlin is a good bearer but too short-lived. I prefer side-hill, sloping to the north, soil a black loam, without hard-pan or joint clay. I prefer trees two years old, limbs two feet from the ground and not too heavy top, set thirty-five feet apart, at the junction of furrows run out both ways with a lister. I grow nothing in an orchard. Do not cultivate. I simply keep down the weeds, and let the tree take care of itself. I don't think the roots should be troubled in Kansas. I believe windbreaks are essential; and would put them of box-elder on the north and west of the orchard. For protection against rabbits, when you first set your tree take a good handful of slough-grass long enough to reach to the first limb, tie at the top, in the middle, and bottom, and leave it on till it rots off; neither rabbits, borers nor sun-scald will trouble a tree thus covered. Cut out watersprouts; but never cut off a limb without good reason. Put stable litter around your trees in a circle for the first three years. Never pasture the orchard. Am troubled with some insects, and have never sprayed but four trees as an experiment; the apples did not rot or fall off. We pick by hand from a ladder, and sort and place in piles in the cellar, each kind by itself. I market my best apples at home, selling some in the orchard; the culls I make into vinegar. I store some for winter in bulk in a cellar cave, and find that the Winesap and Missouri Pippin keep the best. I pay fifty cents per day for help.

J. B. Wilcox, Muscotah, Atchison county: Have lived in Kansas thirty-five years; have 4000 trees seventeen years planted. Prefer Winesap, Missouri Pippin and Ben Davis for market, and would add Grimes's Golden Pippin, and Jonathan for family orchard. Have tried and discarded many varieties. I prefer a black loam, with clay subsoil, on a northern slope. I cultivate for six or eight years in corn, and then seed to clover. Do not think windbreaks are a necessity. I pasture my orchard with horses and cattle; don't think it advisable, and don't think it pays. I am troubled with canker-worm and round-headed borers. I spray with Paris green for canker-worm, and dig borers out with the knife. I sell my best fruit at wholesale, often in the orchard. With the poorest culls I do nothing. I find my best market right at home. Prices have ranged from seventy-five cents to two dollars per barrel. I pay three cents per bushel for gathering.

Geo. A. Wise, Reserve, Brown county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-nine years. Have an orchard of 22,000 apple trees; 150 are eighteen years old, the rest are twenty-four years old. I have the Ben Davis, Gano, Jonathan, York Imperial, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin, and for my own use add to the above Grimes's Golden, and some summer varieties. I have tried and discarded Willow Twig as short-lived, and Northern Spy for shy bearing. In this county I would choose upland, northern slope, with black loam soil. Would plant two-year-old, sound trees, without fork, thirty-three feet apart each way, and three inches deeper than they grew in the nursery. I cultivate thoroughly, planting to corn from six to eight years. I use a disc harrow and one-horse, five-tooth cultivator; I then sow to red clover, and cease cropping when the limbs reach out far enough to prevent me passing through with the hay-rack. While I would not object to a windbreak on the south side, I do not think it necessary. I wrap my trees with grass and am not bothered with rabbits. I believe in pruning trees while young; I cut off limbs that do not stand at an angle of forty-five degrees, and thin out to prevent being top-heavy. I have never thinned apples on the trees, but believe it would pay. I fertilize the ground all over with stable litter. I believe it does no harm and pays to pasture the orchard with hogs. I have never sprayed any. I pick apples by hand from a step-ladder into half-bushel measures, and sort into three grades—first, sound, and not wormy; second, may be wormy, but otherwise sound; third, cider. I pack in barrels, and sell at wholesale, usually in the orchard. I sell the second-grade apples in bulk; make culls into cider and feed to horses and cattle. Never have tried a distant market. Never dried any. Sometimes store a few for winter in bulk in a cave; not satisfactory. Find that the Winesap and Missouri Pippin keep best. Some years apples keep better than they do others. Have never tried irrigation. Prices have varied from sixty cents to $1.25 per barrel. I use all kinds of help, paying from seventy-five cents to one dollar per day.

H. M. Rice, Muscotah, Atchison county: Have resided in Kansas twenty-eight years. Have an apple orchard of 8000 trees—5000 one year planted, 500 five years planted, 1000 seven years planted, 500 nine years planted, 1000 ten years planted. Planted for commercial purpose Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Grimes's Golden Pippin, and for family use advise Winesap, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Jonathan, Red June, Rawle's Janet, and Romanite. Declare Golden Russet and Sops of Wine no good. Use upland; prefer north or northeast slope; any good corn land will do. Plant good, thrifty two-year-old trees, eighteen feet apart north and south, and thirty-four feet apart east and west. Am trying 5000 root grafts. Cultivate with five-tooth cultivator with twenty-inch singletree, and a mule; up to bearing age, with corn and potatoes as a ground crop; after that seed to clover. Do not think windbreaks essential for large orchards; would advise three rows of soft maples around small orchards. Use against rabbits a wash of equal parts carbolic acid and water. It pays to remove watersprouts. Use all the barn-yard litter available. Pasture with horses and colts in winter only; it pays. Spray from the time the leaves appear until the apples are as big as hickory-nuts, to kill canker-worm, codling-moth, and leaf-crumpler. For borers, wash trees about June 1 with equal parts carbolic acid and water, and if any get in after that dig them out with a knife. Sort into firsts, seconds, and culls. Use barrels well shaken and pressed, marked with variety and name of grower. Usually wholesale as soon as picked. Make culls into vinegar when I cannot sell them in bulk. Never dried any, and put none away for winter except a few in boxes for family use. Find that Missouri Pippin, Rawle's Janet and Romanite keep the best. Prices run from $1.50 to $3 per barrel. Use men, women, and boys, and pay 11/2 to 2 cents per bushel for hand picking.

H. C. Riggs, Wetmore, Nemaha county: Has lived in Kansas twenty-seven years; has an orchard of 400 trees, set from two to twenty years. Advises for market Ben Davis, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and for family use adds Cooper's Early White, Red June, and Jonathan. Has discarded Willow Twig and White Winter Pearmain, because both "rot on the trees." Prefers porous clay or loam in dry bottom, with north aspect. Plants two-year-old, low-top, fibrous-rooted trees with a spade, after marking out both ways with a plow. Grows corn and potatoes in orchard, and cultivates up to eight or ten years with double-shovel plow. Would put windbreaks of cottonwood or soft maple on southern exposure. Protects from rabbits by wrapping. Prunes with saw and chisel, and says it pays. Uses well-rotted stable litter while orchard is young. Thinks cautious pasturing with hogs or young calves would pay. Is troubled with some insects, but does not spray. Picks and sorts into three classes: "Winter storage," "immediate use," and "cider apples." Sells mostly in orchard. Dries only for family use. Stores in bulk, and finds that Ben Davis keeps best. Says that his trees that got the waste water from the well were much benefited. Price, about seventy-five cents per barrel.

P. S. Taylor, Eskridge, Wabaunsee county: Have been in Kansas thirty-two years; have 1100 trees planted eleven years, that are now thirty-two inches in circumference. I prefer for market Ben Davis, Jonathan, Missouri Pippin, and York Imperial, and for family use would advise Jonathan, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Winesap, and York Imperial. Have discarded Rawle's Janet, Cooper's Early White, and Smith's Cider, also Winesap as a market apple. Prefer a deep, sandy loam, with clay subsoil, bottom or slope land, with northeast aspect. Plant thrifty, medium-sized, three-year-old trees twenty feet apart north and south, and forty feet east and west. I cultivate for six years in corn and potatoes; then sow to clover, plowing this under every third or fourth year, using the Acme harrow run shallow. I believe windbreaks are beneficial, and would prefer two rows of white elms mismatched. I wrap the trunks of trees, for protection against rabbits. I believe in pruning out all watersprouts and crossing branches; it facilitates gathering and the fruit colors better. I have tried thinning on Missouri Pippins, Winesaps, and Romanites, knocking them off with a pitchfork. I believe in fertilizing orchards on all prairie soils with barn-yard litter. I pasture my orchard when the trees are vigorous and the soil not wet, with calves and pigs; I believe it pays if done with moderation. I spray after the petals fall, using Paris green for codling-moth, and believe I have reduced them. For borers I use a knife and wire. I pick by hand in half-bushel baskets and sort into three classes: perfect, medium size, and culls. We sort from bins in a light, airy shed, and pack carefully by hand into standard barrels, marked firsts and seconds, and haul to market on springs. I sell my second grade fruit to western wagoners; we feed culls to hogs and cows. We do best in our home market. For winter we store in bins in the cellar, and are usually successful. Prices have ranged from fifty cents to one dollar. For help I employ only my three sons, and give them an interest in the proceeds.

Thomas Arbuthnot, Cuba, Republic county: Have been in Kansas thirty years. Have 6000 apple trees nine years old. I prefer two-year-old trees, five to six feet tall, planted after a lister run as deep as possible. I cultivate with the plow and disc, growing corn in the orchard for six or seven years; after that nothing. I believe in windbreaks. I prune a little. Never thin the fruit. Do not use any fertilizer on the ground, and never pasture the orchard. I do not spray, but use a torch every evening to burn the insects; one torch will draw the insects about 300 feet, and we think this better than spraying. [Such lights are liable to destroy as many beneficial as noxious insects.] I sell to wagons, as there is sufficient demand here from the western counties to take in that way all that I have to spare. Have never dried any, nor stored any for winter. I do not irrigate. Prices have been, twenty-five cents for culls, and forty to fifty cents per bushel for everything else. My orchard is only commencing to bear fruit on all the trees.

Elbridge Chase, Padonia, Brown county: Have lived in Kansas thirty-nine years. Have 2800 apple trees thirteen years old, running from five to eight inches in diameter, made up of equal numbers of Ben Davis, Jonathan, Winesap, and Rawle's Janet. I would discard the latter. I prefer hilltop with deep vegetable or sandy loam. My trees are doing best on an eastern slope. I plant thrifty four-year-olds. I believe in cultivation with the plow and disc harrow until the trees shade the ground so that weeds cannot grow much. I grow corn for a few years, then clover for two years, after that no crop whatever. Have no use for windbreaks, and use lath two feet long stuck in the ground around the trees to protect from rabbits. I prune with a saw, knife, and shears, to keep the trees in good shape and not too brushy, and believe it pays. I do not believe it would pay to thin apples on the tree. I would not pasture my orchard. I do not spray. I gather in sacks hung over the shoulder, as for sowing grain. Sort into two classes, packed into three-bushel barrels, pressed in and marked with the name of the variety. I sell at wholesale, but never have sold in the orchard. Minneapolis, Minn., has been my best market. We use part of the culls for cider. Never dried any. Do not store any for winter, and do not irrigate. Prices have ranged at from one dollar to two dollars per bushel. I use men and boys, and pay from two to three cents per bushel for fruit left in baskets at foot of trees. For other work than picking I pay $1.25 per day.

J. H. Bateman, Holton, Jackson county: Have lived in Kansas forty years. Have 900 apple trees; 200 have been planted twenty-five years, 700 have been planted four years. Have made more money out of Ben Davis than any other. For family use my choice is White Winter Pearmain and Rawle's Janet. I have tried and discarded Dominie and Winesap. I prefer hilltop, with northeast slope, and a deep, friable soil; hard clay is not good. I would plant two- or three-year-olds, in a deep furrow, preferably subsoiled. Would cultivate as long as it don't cut the roots, with a two-horse cultivator, and would grow corn four or five years, then seed to clover. I believe windbreaks are very beneficial; would make them of walnut or maple. Osage orange is fairly good; all may be raised from young trees or seed. I wrap young trees in the fall with paper to protect from rabbits. I prune with the knife to prevent friction. Never tried thinning on the trees; believe it would be beneficial. Fertilizers make the trees thriftier, but cause the roots to run nearer the surface; consequently the trees suffer more in drought. I have pastured to a limited extent with calves and horses; hogs injure the trees. The worst insects I have are the flat-headed borer, which I cut out, and the curculio. Have never sprayed, but think I will. We pick from a ladder into pails or baskets and sort into two classes; we pick the best from the trees, and shake the others to the ground. I sometimes sell in the orchard; I wholesale when I can, but sell more to the buyers at the railroad station. I make some cider, and feed the balance of the culls to hogs. Our best markets are the apple buyers at Holton. Have never shipped any or dried any. I store only for home use, in boxes in my cellar, and find that Rawle's Janet and Romanite are the best keepers. I use farm hands at from seventeen dollars to twenty dollars per month.

John Graves, Day, Washington county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-one years. Have an orchard of 6025 trees; 25 of these have been planted twenty years, 400 seventeen years, 1200 ten years, 400 seven years, 4000 two years. For market I grow Winesap and Ben Davis. For family use I add Missouri Pippin, Snow, and Early Harvest. Winesap best of all. I prefer hilltop, as the gophers are bad on the bottom. I prefer a black soil with lots of gravel and small stones in it. Believe that north and east slopes are best. I plant two-year-old trees with short bodies, twenty-five feet apart each way. I cultivate with corn for about ten years, using the stirring plow and cultivator. I believe windbreaks are essential, and would use four rows of cherry trees set close together, or a row of hedge or box-elder, mainly on the south; some on the north. For protection from rabbits I tie corn-stalks around the trees, and keep them on for three or four years, winter and summer. I prune some with the pocket-knife and saw. I do not thin the fruit unless I think the limbs are going to break. I would use no fertilizer unless the soil is very poor. Never pasture the orchard. I sprayed one year with London purple, using a barrel with a pump in it. I could not see that it did any good, so I let them go. I pick in buckets from a step-ladder. People come from the west with wagons and take the apples right out of the orchard, and they don't sort much. I make some culls into cider and let the rest lay under the trees and rot. The price last year was seventy-five cents per bushel, and the year before thirty-five cents. I store a few for winter in thin layers, one above another, in a rack in the cellar, and am successful. Winesaps keep the best. For picking I use good careful men at one dollar per day.

Godfrey Fine, Maxson, Osage county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-nine years. I have 700 trees planted, five, ten and twenty-seven years. For market I use Missouri Pippin and Ben Davis; for family use I plant Early Harvest, Maiden's Blush, Lowell and Jonathan for summer, and Missouri Pippin and Winesap for winter. If I were putting out now I would only plant Missouri Pippin and Winesap. I prefer bottom, and such soil as has formerly been brush and timber land. A part of my orchard slopes a little to the south. I plant thrifty two-year-olds, with the top leaning to the southwest. I cultivate until they begin bearing; the plow is as good a tool as any, but care must be taken not to injure the roots. The best crop is buckwheat or potatoes; I have had strawberries and blackberries in the orchard, but do not consider it best; I cease cropping after they come into bearing. I believe in windbreaks; I do not know what would be best; mine is protected by natural forest-trees and Osage-orange hedge. To protect from borers, I use a wash with lye or strong soap-suds. I tie corn-stalks around young trees to protect from rabbits. I believe it pays to prune with the saw to improve the quality of the fruit. I think stable litter is good for old orchards, but should not be put close up around the body of the tree. I should pasture very little, as stock of all kinds destroy the trees and injure the fruit. I have sprayed little, but cannot say much about it. I pick by hand, and do not pack at all, as those that I do not find a market for here at home I sell to shippers. I sell many in the orchard, and when there is a full crop I sell to shippers and they grade and mark them. I sell culls for cider when there is a call for them. I tried drying, but did not find it profitable. I do not store any apples for winter, as I have no good place. Prices per bushel have ranged from twenty-five to fifty-five cents. I use men for help, and pay seventy-five cents per day.

Jesse Wolverton, Barnes, Washington county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-three years; have an apple orchard of 6000 trees, five to twenty-one years planted. For commercial purposes I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Rawle's Janet, and Jonathan, and for family orchard would add Early Harvest, Oldenburg, and Smith Cider. Have tried and discarded Willow Twig, Lawver, Talman's Sweeting, Stark, Wagener, Missouri Superior and Red Astrachan on account of blight and shy bearing. I prefer hilltop or bottom with a porous subsoil which is reasonably rich. My trees planted on hard-pan are dying. I prefer two-year-old, straight, thrifty trees, planted in land prepared as for corn. I cultivate my orchard to corn (once to broom-corn) as long as the corn does well, using a double shovel and a twelve-inch plow. I sow bearing orchard to oats, one bushel to the acre, and let stand. Cease cropping after seven or eight years. To protect the trees from rabbits I wrap with long grass. I prune some to form heads two or three feet from the ground, and cut all watersprouts with a knife; but do little of this until the trees are twelve years planted. Have thinned apples on trees; it does not pay. My trees are in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard with all the barn-yard litter I can get, and think it beneficial. A neighbor fertilizes his orchard very heavily and receives splendid crops. I pasture six acres of my orchard with hogs; they keep it well cultivated; have not thought it an injury yet. No orchard ought to be seeded to grass in this county. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, and leaf-crumpler; my apples with codling-moth and gouger. I sprayed twice last year with London purple, one or two pounds [?] to a barrel of water, before and after they blossomed; it was an utter failure. When the worms appeared I increased the amount to three pounds to the barrel, without any effect. [This must have been poor London purple.—Sec.] I gather my apples in sacks with a hoop in the open end; then put on the sorting table, using bushel boxes and a wagon with a plank platform to haul them on. I sort into three classes: firsts, seconds, and culls. Sell firsts in orchard to Ryan & Richardson; sell second and third grades to teams. Make cider of the culls and those we cannot sell. My best markets are north and northwest. I never dry any. I store from 5 to 700 bushels in a basement under granary, and am fairly successful; find Ben Davis and Rawle's Janet keep best. Do not irrigate. Prices have been from twenty-five to seventy-five cents per bushel. I employ men, and pay from fifty cents to one dollar per day.

Theodore Olsen, Green, Clay county: I have lived in Kansas thirty years. Have an apple orchard of 200 trees, fifteen feet high, eighteen years old. I prefer for commercial purposes Ben Davis and Winesap, on second bottom, black soil, with a northeast slope. I plant three-year-old trees, not very deep, and cultivate my orchard to corn, using a cultivator run very shallow every year, and cease cropping when they begin to bear; then plant nothing. Windbreaks are essential here; I have trees planted around my orchard. I protect from rabbits by wrapping the trees with corn-stalks. I never prune, and do not thin the fruit on the trees. I fertilize my orchard with straw, and would advise its use on all soils. I do not pasture my orchard. My trees are troubled with flathead borers and leaf-crumplers, and my apples by gouger. I spray with Paris green in June; have not reduced the codling-moth. Pick my apples; sort into two classes, pack in bushel boxes, sell in the orchard, also retail; I make cider of culls. My best market is Green. I never dry any. I store some in boxes in a cellar, and am fairly successful; I find Ben Davis keeps best. We have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about ten per cent. Do not irrigate. Prices have been from twenty-five cents to one dollar per bushel.

Harry L. Brown, Muscotah, Atchison county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-two years. Have an apple orchard of 150 trees, ten to twenty-five years old. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, Jonathan, Missouri Pippin, and Grimes's Golden Pippin; and for family orchard Maiden's Blush, Early Harvest, Red June, Smith's Cider, and Rambo. I prefer hilltop, with a deep, sandy loam, and a gravel subsoil, northeast slope. I prefer two-year-old, straight, thrifty trees, carefully set, 30×35 feet. I plant my orchard to corn, potatoes, beans and garden-truck for ten or twelve years, using a one-horse cultivator between the rows and around the trees, and cease cropping after twelve or fifteen years; plant strawberries or small fruits in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of two rows of evergreens planted around the orchard. I trap the rabbits, and wash and cut out the borers. I prune to thin and keep the tree in shape; 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 horse- and cow-stable litter; think it beneficial, and would advise its use on all soils, unless very rich. I pasture my orchard with nothing but chickens; it is not advisable; does not pay. My trees are troubled with flathead and twig-borers, leaf-rollers and crumplers; and my apples with codling-moth and curculio. I do not spray. I pick my apples from ladders into baskets and sacks, and sort, as I gather them, into three classes: perfectly sound, second best, and culls. I pack in baskets and boxes. I retail and peddle my apples; feed the culls to stock. My best markets are near-by towns; never tried distant markets. We sun-dry some, and pack in sacks and boxes; we find a ready market for them; it pays. Am successful in storing apples for home use in boxes and bins in a cellar, and find Ben Davis, Winesap, Rawle's Janet and Smith's Cider keep the best. I have to repack stored apples before marketing. Do not irrigate. Prices have been from forty to fifty cents per bushel, and dried apples five cents per pound. I pay men eighteen to twenty dollars per month, or one dollar per day.

F. W. Wilcox, Corning, Nemaha county: I have resided in the state twenty-three years; have an apple orchard of seventy-five trees, all sizes and ages. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, and Wealthy. I prefer a dark, loose soil, on a hillside with a north and east slope. I prefer good, healthy three-year-old trees, set in holes dug two feet deep and three feet across. I plant my orchard to sweet corn, using a cultivator, and cease cropping when I think necessary and seed down to red clover. Windbreaks are essential—would make them of Osage orange. I prune my trees with a saw to give shape; I think it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. I fertilize my orchard with rotten stable litter, but would not advise its use on all soils. I pasture my orchard with horses, and think it advisable, and that it pays. My trees are troubled with canker-worms, tent-caterpillar and flathead borer. I do not spray. I pick my apples by hand in pails. Sort into three classes—first, second, and cast out. I do not dry any. I store a few for winter market. I do not irrigate.

James Anderson, Leonardville, Riley county. I have lived in Kansas seventeen years; have an apple orchard of 200 trees from one to sixteen years old, four to sixteen feet high. For market I prefer Winesap, Missouri Pippin, Jonathan, and Ben Davis, and for a family orchard Early Harvest, Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Jonathan, and Ben Davis. I prefer bottom land with black loam and clay subsoil, with a southern slope. When setting trees, I dig holes four feet in diameter and three feet deep; put black loam in the bottom for the roots. I plant my orchard to potatoes for three or four years, using a plow. I cease cropping at the end of this time, and mow, and leave everything on the ground. Sow red or white clover in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential on the north and south sides of the orchard; would make them of maple, cottonwood, or Osage orange. I have Osage orange on the north and a creek with native timber on the south. For rabbits I wrap the trees. When I see a black spot on a tree I hunt for and dig borers out. I prune off all the interfering branches and watersprouts. I do this for fruit; it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. I keep the varieties together when planting. I fertilize my orchard by putting stable litter a foot thick on the north side, which is the highest, and when it rains the liquid from it runs all the way down and fertilizes the trees. I think it beneficial, and would advise its use on all soils. I do not pasture my orchard. It is not advisable, and does not pay. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, and my apples with codling-moth. I have sprayed with all the sprays recommended, and think I have reduced the codling-moth a little. I pick my apples by hand from a step-ladder, and sort into two classes—sound, wormy and windfalls. Put the sound ones in the cellar; make cider of the others. I sell apples in the orchard, mostly at retail. They sell the best in town in the winter. My best market is in towns west of here. I have tried distant markets, but it did not pay. I do not dry any. I store a few apples in boxes, barrels, and bulk, in a cellar. Those that keep best are Winesap, Missouri Pippin, Ben Davis, and Jonathan. Have to repack stored apples before marketing; lose about ten per cent. The average price has been fifty cents per bushel. I employ men at twenty dollars per month.

F. A. Schermerhorn, Ogden, Riley county: I have lived in the state thirty-eight years. Have an apple orchard of 4000 trees from twelve to thirty-seven years old. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and Jonathan; and for a family orchard Winesap, Rawle's Janet, Missouri Pippin, Maiden's Blush, and Early Harvest. I have tried and discarded Willow Twig and Smith's Cider on account of blight; and McAfee, Snow and Lawver on account of shy bearing. I prefer rolling land having a clay loam and clay subsoil. I prefer two-year-old trees, with heads twenty inches from the ground, set in the spring, about two rods apart. I cultivate all the time, even in bearing orchards, using an Acme harrow, planting corn; cease cropping after four years; put nothing in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are not essential if the orchard is large. For rabbits I wrap the trees. I dig borers out with a knife. I prune my trees, and think it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. My trees are planted in blocks—800 Ben Davis in one and 700 Missouri Pippins in another; all bear well. I fertilize my orchard some, but not much. I think it would be beneficial on poor soil, but would not advise it on all soils. I pasture my orchard with horses after the fruit is gathered; can't see any harm. My trees are troubled with canker-worm and root aphis, and my apples with codling-moth. I spray as soon as the bloom falls, and two or three times afterward, with arsenic, for insects. Think I have reduced the codling-moth. I wash young trees twice during the summer season with diluted soft soap for borers. Pick my apples by hand, and sort into two classes. I pack in the standard apple barrel, fill with a head press, mark with variety and grade, and haul to depot on wagon. I sometimes sell apples in the orchard by the wagon-load. I ship my best apples, and sell the culls for what I can get. My best market is west. Have tried distant markets and found it paid. I do not dry any. I am successful in storing apples in barrels; Ben Davis and Missouri Pippin keep best. I do not irrigate. Prices last fall were two dollars per barrel or fifty cents per bushel to wagoners. I employ men at one dollar per day and board.

A. Chandler, Argentine, Wyandotte county. Have lived in the state twenty-two years; have an apple orchard of 400 trees from one to nine years old. For market I prefer Jonathan, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, Ben Davis, and York Imperial; and for family orchard Huntsman's Favorite, Maiden's Blush, and Jonathan. Have tried and discarded Grimes's Golden Pippin and Smith's Cider on account of blight. I prefer hilltop, with a clay soil and a light subsoil, and an east slope, as it will get the morning sun and no southwest winds. I prefer two-year-old trees five to six feet high, well branched, set twenty-eight by thirty feet; I also have some twenty by thirty feet. I plant my orchard to corn, potatoes, tomatoes and cabbage for seven years, using a cultivator and harrow (I like the Acme and spading harrow). Cease cropping after seven years; plant bearing orchard to blackberries and raspberries, but this is not advisable; clover or cow-peas are better. Windbreaks are essential on the prairie; would make them of a double row of Osage orange or evergreens, on the south and west. For rabbits I wrap the trees with paper or veneering, and for borers I mound the tree up. I prune a little with my pocket-knife to remove dead and crossed limbs; it does not pay to saw and chop. I thin my fruit by hand when the crop is heavy, not later than July 15. My trees are in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard with ashes and bone-meal; both are beneficial, but not necessary in good potash soils.

I pasture my orchard with six-months-old pigs—think it advisable in an orchard that is over four years old. My trees are troubled with canker-worms, round- and flathead borers and tent-caterpillar, and my trees with codling-moth, curculio, and gouger. I spray with London purple and Paris green, using a hand pump. For borers I wash the trees with whale-oil soap, carbolic acid, and sulphur, and then mound the trees up. I pick my apples in baskets, from a ladder wide at the bottom and narrow at the top, and leave the apples in the orchard four to six weeks, then sort into three classes, from a padded table 5×12 feet, sloping; pack into twelve-peck barrels, mark with variety, and haul to market on a spring wagon. Sometimes I sell apples in the orchard at retail; pack my best apples in one-peck baskets for stand trade, my second grade in barrels. Feed the culls to the hogs; cider does not pay. My best market is Kansas City. Have tried distant markets, but it did not pay—too great freight and commission charges. I am successful in storing apples in barrels in an earth cave five feet deep, earth sides and roof; keep it open when not freezing; apples can be stored in bulk by leaving a space of six inches at the sides and bottom. Jonathan and Gano keep best. I have tried artificial cold storage and lost fifteen per cent. of my apples. I found it too expensive and unreliable. I have to repack the stored apples before marketing, and lose from fifteen to forty per cent. of them. I do not irrigate. Prices have been: Jonathan, $3 to $5 per barrel; Ben Davis, $2.25 to $3 per barrel. I employ men mostly, at from $1 to $1.25 per day.

Stephen Stout, Axtell, Marshall county: I have lived in the state nineteen years; have an apple orchard of 800 trees twelve to fifteen years old. For market I prefer Winesap, Ben Davis, Jonathan, Maiden's Blush, Cooper's Early White, Duchess of Oldenburg, and Huntsman's Favorite; and for family orchard, the first five varieties mentioned. Have tried and discarded Willow Twig and White Winter Pearmain, because the trees are not healthy. I prefer hilltop, with a black loam, and a clay subsoil having a reddish color, and a northeast slope. I prefer two-year-old, low-head, heavy, stocky trees, set in big holes, leaning the tree a little to the southwest; fill the hole half full, and then pour in a pail of water and fill up with earth. I have always plowed and cultivated my orchard, but I will have to quit soon, as the trees are getting too large. I use a stirring plow, spring-tooth cultivator, and a harrow. Plant corn in a young orchard, and leave the stalks standing all winter; cease cropping after ten or twelve years; grow great big weeds in a bearing orchard, and plow them under in July. Windbreaks are essential on the south and west sides of the orchard; would make by planting Osage orange seed very thick, and tend well for three years. For rabbits I paint the trees with a mixture of sulphur, soap and lard the first fall after planting, then every alternate year for three or four times; it will also keep off insects, mice, and bark-louse, and the trees will be slick and smooth, with no place for insects to harbor. I prune very little; keep out watersprouts, and let the sun into the top. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees.

My trees are in mixed plantings, but cannot see any benefit from it. I fertilize my orchard by plowing under the green weeds. I think a vegetable mold is what the trees require; think it beneficial, and would advise it on all soils. I pasture my orchard in the spring with sows and pigs; think it advisable, and that it pays. Codling-moth troubles my apples. I spray right after the blossom falls, and a few days later, with London purple, for the codling-moth, and we are getting away with him. For borers and other insects I allow the birds in the orchard, and do not allow the boys to go in with guns, or disturb them at all. I pick my apples by hand from a step-ladder, and pile them under the tree. I sort in two classes from a long, wide, sloping board with sides. I pack in barrels from the piles in the orchard. Wagons come from the west and buy the apples from the orchard at wholesale; sell the second grade to apple peddlers; make cider for vinegar of the culls. My best market is at home; never have tried distant markets. Do not dry any. I store apples for our own use, and have apples the year round. The Little Romanite keeps best. I do not irrigate. Apples wholesale at twenty-five cents per bushel in the orchard. I employ men at $1.25 per day.

I had twenty-four very fine Siberian crabs—Hyslop, Transparent, and Whitney. They were affected with blight. Nearly all of the Siberian trees were dead from the effects of it, and one day, while in the orchard watching the movements of the birds and boys, I saw a striped woodpecker fly to one of the trees, and he found what he supposed to be a grub, but when he got through the bark he was very much disappointed, wiped his bill, and flew to another tree, where he continued to wipe and clean his bill; so I went to the tree mentioned, and found the bark very loose and sour where he had punctured it. I compared the smell and taste with the blighted twigs and found them the same. I cut the bark that was loose from the tree, and found the rapid growth of the bark and the flow of the sap had bursted the bark from the wood, and this sap had soured and been taken up by the other sap and poisoned the ends of the new growth; hence, it blighted. It was sap poison, like blood poison. I then used the knife freely, splitting the body and limbs. I saved twenty out of twenty-four of the trees. I then went over the orchard and cured all the trees in one season; never been bothered since. The woodpecker taught me a lesson, and I relate it to show the value of birds in the orchard.

A. C. Moore, Wanamaker, Shawnee county: I have lived in Kansas thirty-three years; have an apple orchard of 400 trees, from twelve to seventeen years old. For market I prefer Winesap, Jonathan, Missouri Pippin, and Ben Davis; and for a family orchard Red Astrachan, Early Harvest, Maiden's Blush, Smokehouse, and Winesap. Have tried and discarded Tulpehocken; it rots on the tree and will not keep. I prefer bottom land, with sandy loam and clay subsoil, and a north slope. I prefer two-year-old trees, with full top and roots, set fifteen inches deep, in furrows checked with the plow; plant where furrows cross. I plant my orchard to corn eight years, using a plow, harrow, and cultivator; cease cropping at the end of this time and seed to clover. Windbreaks are essential on the south; would make them of Osage orange fifteen rods distant, to protect the orchard from the hard and hot south winds. For rabbits I wrap the young trees with paper. I prune my trees after they are eight years old, with the saw, to give light and thin the top. I think it beneficial. I do not thin my apples; enough fall off. I fertilize my orchard by mowing the clover, and think it beneficial to young trees, and would advise the use of clover fertilization on all soils. I do not pasture my orchard; is not advisable. My trees are troubled with borers, and my apples with some insect that stings them and causes them to fall off. I do not spray. I pick my apples by hand with care. Sort into two classes, pack in barrels, in layers, by hand, mark with variety, and haul to shipping place or market in lumber wagon. I wholesale my best apples; make vinegar of the second and third grades and culls. Topeka is my best market; never tried distant markets. I do not dry any. I am successful in storing apples in barrels in a cellar; I also bury some. I find Romanite keeps best. I have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about one-eighth of them. I do not irrigate. Price has been fifty cents per bushel.

Thomas Buckman, Topeka, Shawnee county: I have lived in the state twenty-nine years. Have an apple orchard of 1300 trees from six to twenty-seven years old. For market I prefer Ben Davis and Jonathan; and for family orchard Rare Ripe, Maiden's Blush, and Winesap. I prefer black soil with a porous subsoil, and a northeast slope. I prefer two-year-old, small-size trees, with good roots, set in holes dug with spade in well-cultivated ground. I cultivate my orchard six years with a five-tooth cultivator; plant corn in a young orchard, and cease cropping when six years old, and sow clover in the bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of Osage orange, by setting the plants twelve inches apart. For the rabbits I use traps and wrap the young trees with corn-stalks. I dig the borers out with a knife. I prune to remove crossed limbs and to keep the tree well balanced; I think it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. I do not fertilize my orchard, but think it would be beneficial on all soils. I pasture my orchard with hogs, but do not think it advisable; it does not pay. My trees are troubled with roundhead borers, and my apples with codling-moth and tree-cricket. I spray, after the blossom falls, with London purple. Pick apples into a sack over the shoulder from a slide ladder; sort under the tree, and put the best in crates made to hold one bushel level full; we let them remain in the shade of the tree until danger of freezing; then sort and store in the cellar, one box on top of another. I sell apples in the orchard, wholesale and retail to customers in Topeka; make cider of the second and third grades, and give the culls to hogs. Topeka is my best market. Have tried distant markets, but they do not always pay. I do not dry any. I am successful in storing apples in bushel crates. I find Rawle's Janet and Winesap keep best. I have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about one-fifth of them. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from thirty cents to one dollar per bushel.

M. Sanders, Broughton, Clay county: I have lived in Kansas thirty-eight years. Have an apple orchard of 400 trees, three to ten inches in diameter. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, Grimes's Golden Pippin, and Red Astrachan; and for family orchard Ben Davis, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin. I prefer bottom land having a sandy subsoil, and a southeast slope. I prefer two-year-old, low-headed trees. In the spring I open deep furrows both ways with a plow, and plant the trees at the cross, fill the hole with good soil. I cultivate my orchard for six or eight years, using a common plow till four years old, then use a shovel plow, and plant early corn, potatoes, etc., in the young orchard; cease cropping after six or eight years; plant nothing in a bearing orchard, but keep up shallow cultivating with a disc or plow. Windbreaks are essential; I would make them of three rows of box-elder or Osage orange. I prune with a small saw or knife, to thin the top. I fertilize my orchard with yard litter and ashes, scattering it all over the ground; would advise it on all soils. I have pastured my orchard with hogs, but have quit it. I now pasture with cows; I tie their heads down, but do not think it advisable; it does not pay. My trees are troubled with tent-caterpillar, bud moth, and twig-borers, and my apples with codling-moth. I do not spray. I pick my apples by hand in a basket, and sort into two classes. Sell my apples to storekeepers and Indians; make cider and vinegar, and give away the second and third grades; feed the culls to the hogs and cattle. My best market is at home; never tried distant markets. Don't dry any. I have stored apples in boxes and barrels, and find Ben Davis and Winesap keep best. I have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing one-third to one-half of them. Do not irrigate. Prices have been from twenty cents to one dollar per bushel.

John Reed, Oak Hill, Clay county: I have resided in the state twenty years; have an apple orchard of 100 trees six years old. For market I prefer Ben Davis and Winesap; and for family orchard add Jonathan and a few early varieties. I prefer low land with a porous subsoil, and a northeast slope. I prefer two-year-old trees with branches one foot from the ground. When setting I dig big holes and loosen up the subsoil about a foot. I find this gives the best satisfaction. I have always cultivated my orchard, and intend to do so three or four years longer; I plow twice a year—in spring, and the middle of June; I keep the ground well stirred. I planted corn the first three years, listed it in, but would not recommend it, as the trees will do better if the land is plowed. Windbreaks are essential on the south and west sides of the orchard; would make them of two rows of cottonwood trees planted zigzag with one another. For rabbits I wrap with corn-stalks. I dig borers out and wash the trees with lye water twice a year for the first three years; it keeps the tree nice and clean and the borers out. I prune my trees, by cutting out the limbs that cross, and to keep the trees from leaning to the north, and it pays. I fertilize my orchard with decayed corn-cobs. I think it beneficial, and would advise it on all soils, as I think too much straw mulching is an injury to the trees when they get old. I do not pasture my orchard; it does not pay. My trees were troubled with canker-worms last spring. I do not spray. My best market is in the neighborhood. Prices last fall were fifty to sixty cents per bushel.

Geo. R. Barnes, Chapman, Dickinson county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-seven years; have an apple orchard of six acres old enough to be at their best. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Jonathan, and Winesap, and for family use Early Harvest, Red June, Maiden's Blush, and Missouri Pippin. I prefer a low bottom with a black loam, and a north slope. I prefer two-year-old, well-balanced trees, set in holes large enough to receive them, twenty-four by twenty-four feet. I cultivate my young orchard to corn and potatoes, using a disc harrow, and cease cropping when they begin to bear. I plant nothing in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks would be beneficial on the south to protect the orchard from the hot south winds. I would make it of walnut trees, because they sap the ground the least. To protect them from the borers, I leave the branches low down, and when we see any sawdust I dig him out with a knife. I prune very little with knife and saw to balance the trees. I do not thin the fruit on the trees. Some say if you expect to get a load of apples from a tree you must give it a load of manure every time it bears, and I think this is right, but don't put it too close to the tree. I pasture my orchard with nothing but poultry; it is not advisable; it makes the ground too hard. Codling-moth troubles my apples very much. I do not spray. I sell apples in the orchard; peddle the best ones; make cider and vinegar of the culls. Don't dry any for market—just enough for family use. Prices have been from forty to seventy-five cents per bushel.

A. M. Engle, Moonlight, Dickinson county: I have lived in Kansas nineteen years. Have an orchard of 600 apple trees ten to eighteen years old. For commercial orchard I prefer Ben Davis, Rawle's Janet, Missouri Pippin, and Winesap. I prefer bottom or low land with a dark loam, and a north or northeast aspect. I prefer stout, low-headed, two-year-old trees, planted sixteen or eighteen feet east and west and thirty or thirty-two feet north and south. I think an orchard ought to have as much cultivation as a corn-field. I grow early corn in my young orchard, using an Acme and cutaway harrow, and cultivate as for corn. I cease cropping when fairly bearing. Plant nothing in a bearing orchard unless for fertilizing, but keep cultivating. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of evergreen, box-elder, Osage orange, maples, cottonwood, etc. For rabbits I rub the trees with axle grease, or tar and fish oil, or old lard, mixed; apply with a cloth. For borers I wash with lye or strong soap-suds. I prune my trees severely when planting, and watch them for several years, and cut out all branches that rub or crowd, and cut out buds so that the tree will not have too many limbs for foundation; I think it pays. I thin the fruit while on the trees; begin early when the trees are full, and continue all through the season, whenever I see imperfect fruit; think it pays big. My trees are mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard with well-rotted stable litter and wood ashes; I would especially advise the use of wood ashes. I pasture my orchard very little; would put hogs in if the limbs were not too low and full of apples; I think it would pay. My trees are troubled with flathead borer and canker-worm, and my apples with codling-moth. I intend spraying this year with Paris green and London purple for the worms, and Bordeaux mixture for blight and fungous diseases, as soon as the blossoms fall.

In picking I use foot ladders and one-half-bushel baskets, unless the variety is very hard; then I use sacks. Sort into three classes. Pack in barrels shaken and pressed down, then headed, and marked with name of variety, and haul to shipping point on wagon. Sell some apples in the orchard; let the grocer have the best to sell on commission; sell second and third grades the best way I can; make cider of culls. My best market is at Abilene; never tried distant markets. Dry only for home use. Am successful in storing apples in barrels and tight boxes, in a cave; find Winesap and Rawle's Janet keep well till June. Put my apples in the cave when the weather is cold, and keep it open cold nights, but am careful to not let it freeze. Think it best to repack stored apples when kept late. If they are well managed you will not lose five per cent., probably not two per cent. Do not irrigate, but would if I had water facilities. Prices last fall were from forty to fifty cents per bushel in the orchard, but the apples I kept over netted me $1.25 to $1.35 per bushel. I employ men and women; think women best and cheapest for sorting. Pay fifty, sixty and seventy-five cents per day.

I do not consider myself a successful horticulturist, but believe, if I had known as much about the nature or necessity of the orchard when we came to Kansas nineteen years ago as I do now, I could have made a success of it, even here in central Kansas. I would especially say that I do not believe there can be success with an orchard exposed on upland. There might possibly be some success as a family orchard, with a good windbreak planted around it, especially on the south side, but I would not take ten, twenty or thirty acres of exposed upland, with apple trees enough to plant it, as a gift, if I must plant and tend it, for the produce of it for ten or more years. I do not know of a single such orchard that is worth having. I would advise selecting low ground, sloping north and east, with an elevation or good timber protection on south and west; land inclining to bottom or good "draw." My belief is that, with a good selection of varieties, and the proper kind of land and location, apple-raising could be made quite profitable here. Keeping the apples in cellars is a mistake; a good cave kept as cold as possible without freezing is far better. I think apples should be placed on the north side of some shed or building before being put in the cave, and kept cool, and put into cave before freezing. Last fall I sold my choice apples at the orchard at from forty to fifty cents per bushel. I kept some in barrels in the cave. They were in good demand later. About the holidays I got $1.25, and since then $1.35. I had a contract with a grocer to sell them for fifteen per cent., and they netted me as above. I have some in very fine condition in my cave yet [April 27]. I still open the cave on cold nights.

Thomas E. Taylor, Pearl, Dickinson county: I have lived in the state seventeen years. Have an apple orchard of seventy trees, fifty of which are twelve years old, and the other twenty are eighteen years old. I prefer Maiden's Blush, Missouri Pippin, and Winesap. Have tried and discarded Lowell, Jonathan, Grimes's Golden Pippin, and Willow Twig, on account of blight. I prefer bottom land having a sandy soil and a clay subsoil, with a north slope. I prefer two-year-old healthy trees, set in ground which has been plowed very deep. I water the tree well when I plant it. I have cultivated as long as it was possible to get between the trees. I generally use a common plow and disc harrow during the summer, where I have no crop in. I grow corn, Kafir-corn and potatoes in a young orchard. Cease cropping my orchard when twelve years old. I mow the weeds with a machine. I think windbreaks a benefit; would make them of box-elder, ash, or red cedar. I use a pruning-knife on my trees every year, leaving the branches quite thick on the south side. I think it pays. Never have thinned the fruit on the trees. I fertilize my orchard every two or three years with stable litter. I think it beneficial. I do not pasture my orchard; it is not advisable, does not pay. Do not spray. Prices at picking time are forty to fifty cents per bushel.

H. Dubois, Burlingame, Osage county: I have lived in Kansas forty-one years. Have an orchard of fifty apple trees from ten to twenty years old. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin, and would add for family orchard Early Harvest, Duchess of Oldenburg, and Maiden's Blush. I prefer a rich bottom having a red subsoil, and a northeast slope. I prefer thrifty, two-year-old, medium-height trees, set thirty feet each way. I cultivate my orchard as long as it lives with a shovel plow and cultivator, and keep the ground stirred. Plant potatoes in a young orchard, and cease cropping when the trees begin to bear; then sow oats and let the pigs eat it off while it is green. Windbreaks are not essential here, but some have forest-trees planted on the north side of their orchards. I prune my trees in the spring to give shape; cannot say whether it is beneficial or not. I fertilize my orchard with barn-yard litter. I pasture my orchard with pigs until the ripe fruit begins to fall; I think it advisable and that it pays, as the pigs eat all the wormy and worthless fruit that falls. My trees are troubled with tent-caterpillar, root aphis, round- and flat-headed borers, and woolly aphis, and my apples with codling-moth.

A. J. Kleinhans, Grantville, Jefferson county: I have lived in the state forty-one years. Have an apple orchard of 300 trees, twenty to twenty-five years old. For market I prefer Winesap and Ben Davis; and for family orchard Summer Astrachan, Bellflower, and White Winter Pearmain. Have tried and discarded Missouri Pippin, Russet, Baldwin, Red Astrachan, Little Romanite, and Pound Pippin. My orchard is situated in the Kaw valley. I plant my orchard to corn, until the trees get too large; then cease cropping and seed to clover and timothy. I prune lightly, to keep the limbs off the ground and let in the sun and light; I think it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. I pasture my orchard late in the fall with young dehorned cattle; I think it advisable and that it pays. My trees are troubled with canker-worms; and my apples with codling-moths. I do not spray. I sell apples in the orchard at wholesale.

J. W. Atkinson, Perry, Jefferson county: I have resided in Kansas seventeen years; have an apple orchard of 2100 trees from two to eighteen years old. For market I prefer Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and Jonathan. I have tried and discarded Ben Davis; the tree is not hardy. I prefer a porous, red-clay subsoil, and a northeast or east aspect. I cultivate my orchard to corn six years from setting, and cease cropping after twelve years. I seed the bearing orchard to clover. Windbreaks are essential on the south and west sides of the orchard; when possible, natural forest is best. I prune my trees sparingly to improve the grade of fruit; I think it pays when properly done. I do not thin the fruit on the trees. Can see no difference whether trees are in block [of one kind] or mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard when it needs it with barn-yard litter and wood ashes; would not advise it on all soils. I do not pasture my orchard. My trees are troubled with root aphis, and my apples with codling-moth and curculio. I spray twice after the blossom falls, with Paris green. I can get rid of borers only by persistent effort. I sort my apples into four classes: No. 1, No. 2, drying, and stock and cider. Pack in twelve-peck barrels, and market in apple racks. I sometimes wholesale my apples in the orchard. Never tried distant markets. I do not dry any.

Am successful in storing in barrels in a fruit house which is built near the crest of a hill with a fall of 14 in 100 feet. Excavated twenty-three by fifty-three feet; depth at extreme back end, fourteen feet; at front seven feet. Tile ditch fourteen inches deeper than the excavation next to bank, filled with broken rock. Stone wall ten feet high; fine broken rock between wall and bank from ditch to top of wall around the entire building. The front end of the building stands three feet out of the ground, allowing two windows in the front with refrigerator shutters, also a refrigerator door. Heavy timbers, supported by posts covered with bridge lumber, constitute the framework, upon which is seven feet of earth. Through the roof are five sewer-pipe ventilators covered by thimble tops. In the front end are four small ventilators. In the extreme back end is placed an elevator building forming an opening six feet square; this extends eight feet above the top of the earth covering. There are three windows and one door in the elevator building. By means of small ventilators the house can be ventilated very gradually, but by the elevator opening in the back end of the building, and the windows and door in the front end, the air can all be swept out by natural draft and replaced by fresh air. Five minutes is sufficient to thoroughly ventilate. During all this extreme wet weather the floor of the building has been dust dry.

Dr. Chas. Williamson, Washington, Washington county: I have lived in Kansas forty years. My first planted orchard is thirty-eight years old and the second thirty years. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and Rawle's Janet; and for family use Ben Davis, Winesap, Jonathan, Rome Beauty, Rambo, Early June, and Romanite. I have tried and discarded Cooper's Early White, because it is a short-lived tree and a shy bearer. I prefer bottom land with a black loam and a clay subsoil, with a north and east slope. I plant trees thirty feet apart. I would advise cultivation for three years; seed bearing orchard to white clover. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of mulberries and cedar; plant seed for mulberries and set small cedars. For rabbits I use traps and dogs. I prune, but not very much; I cut out watersprouts and dead limbs, and thin out the top so as to let sun in. I never have thinned the fruit on the trees, but think it would pay. I keep bees to help pollinize the blossoms. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter; trees and plant life, as well as stock, need food. I do not pasture my orchard; it is not advisable. I have sprayed with London purple. I protect my trees from the sun, and the bark being full of sap the borers will not trouble them. I hand-pick my apples and pack in barrels in the orchard. I sell in the orchard at retail. My best market is at home. Do not dry any. I store some apples, and find Ben Davis, Winesap and Missouri Pippin keep best. When packing apples for storing I wrap each apple in paper and put a paper between the layers in the boxes; then put them in the cellar, and they keep well. I open the cellar door on warm days. Prices have been from 35 cents to $1.10 per bushel.

There is not a state in the union but what is profiting by the experiences of such men as friend Wellhouse, the "Apple King," and other horticulturists, who are leaving a legacy to future generations. My experience in orcharding has been as an amateur ever since 1856. My orchard has been for home use, but now, with my experience gained here in Kansas, I am planting in the Ozark country, near Olden, exclusively for market purposes (the same can be done in Kansas), but takes longer to come to maturity. Taxes are low in Missouri. The orchardist should not be assessed on his fruit-trees and pay the penalty for being energetic and a pusher in horticulture. In Kansas, thanks to the life work of the members of the State Horticultural Society, we have reached a point where the culture of fruit is an assured success; and there is more money in it than in hog or corn raising. The trouble has been, too many worthless varieties have been planted, and now that they are bearing are profitless; and the worst of it is they are repeating the same mistake each year. I have saved some valuable trees from the borers by taking a quarter-inch bit and boring a hole and putting in strychnine or sulphur, and the tree lived on while all others died; even in the black locust it was successful. I then plug the outside portion of the hole. Let some one explain the reason who understands the circulation of the sap.

Ernst Fairchild, Hiawatha, Brown county: I have lived in Kansas thirty years; have an apple orchard of fifteen acres, twelve years old. For market I prefer Jonathan, Ben Davis, and Rawle's Janet; and for a family orchard Snow, Winesap, and some sweet varieties. I prefer an east slope. I cultivate my orchard to corn or oats for eight or nine years, using a disc and harrow, and cease cropping at the end of this time and seed down to clover. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of forest-trees set in rows, on the north and west sides. I prune my trees to give shape. I pick my apples in square tin pails which have false bottoms; slide the fruit out at the bottom. I make vinegar of the cull apples. Prices have been from sixty cents to one dollar per barrel. I employ men and boys—men at one dollar per day and boys seventy-five cents per day.

Neils Hanson, Willis, Brown county: I have resided in the state thirty-two years; have an orchard of 200 apple trees twenty years old. For all purposes, I prefer Ben Davis, Jonathan, Willow Twig, and Strawberry. Have tried and would discard Willow Twig and Lawver. I prefer bottom land having a clay soil and a north or east slope. When planting trees, I dig a hole two feet deep and four feet square. I cultivate my orchard eight or ten years, using a plow, and spade around the trees. I plant corn or oats in a young orchard. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of maples or willows and cultivate the same as a crop. I prune to thin the tops, and think it beneficial. I thin the fruit when small, if the trees are overloaded. Can see no difference whether the trees are planted in blocks of one kind, or mixed up. I fertilize my orchard, but not close to the trees; would not advise it on bottom land. I pasture my orchard with calves and hogs, but it is not advisable; it does not pay.

I do not spray. I am experimenting with my trees; I make a hole two inches deep, one-fourth inch in diameter, put in medicine and plug up tight with grafting wax over it. It is claimed to kill all the insects on the tree for four or five years to come. I can tell the results this fall. It costs $10 to try it. [Hear! hear!] My neighbors spray their trees when in blossom, and say it pays. I pick my apples by hand, sort into two classes, and pack in barrels, filled full, and marked with consignee's name and hauled to shipping place on wagon. I never sell apples in the orchard, because they [the pickers] ruin the trees. I wholesale my best, second and third grade apples to the one offering the most for them. I feed the culls to hogs. Hiawatha is my best market. I never tried distant markets; it would not pay, unless in car-load lots. I dry apples, put them in sacks and hang in a dry place, and find a ready market for them; it pays. Am successful in storing apples in boxes—made of lath an inch apart—in an arched cave. I find Ben Davis and Rawle's Janet keep best. I have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about one-tenth of them. I do not irrigate. Prices have been about one dollar per barrel. I pay eighteen to twenty dollars per month and board for help.

Isaac M. Taylor, Richmond, Franklin county: I have lived in Kansas thirty years; have about fifty apple trees eight years old, ten feet high. For market I prefer Jonathan and Ben Davis; for a family orchard, Romanstem, Gilpin, Rawle's Janet, Winesap, and Hubbardston's Nonesuch. Have tried and discarded McAfee Nonesuch, Belleflower, and Missouri Pippin. I prefer a gentle east slope at the bottom of a hill, with a deep sandy loam or four feet of red land on lime rock. I prefer two-year-old trees set thirty by thirty feet apart, in holes dug eighteen inches deep, and filled one-third full of surface soil. I cultivate my orchard as long as it lasts with a twelve-inch plow; throw the dirt away first of June, and back in August; then harrow it. I plant potatoes and corn in a young orchard, and cease cropping after ten years. I plant nothing in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of rows of Osage orange on the north and south sides of the orchard. I prune as little as possible. I fertilize my orchard with cow-stable and horse-stable litter mixed; I think it beneficial, and would advise it on all soils, unless very rich. I pasture my orchard once in a while with hogs without rings in their noses, so they can hunt worms. My trees are troubled with borers. I do not spray. I pick my apples in sack from ladders. Sort into three classes, and peddle them. I use Topping's driers and Williams's parers; they are satisfactory. After drying I pack in fifty-pound boxes. I find a ready market in Kansas City for them, but it does not pay. I am successful in storing apples in small boxes and barrels in a cellar; Gilpin and Ben Davis keep best. I have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about five per cent. I do not irrigate. Prices were thirty-five to fifty cents in the fall; seventy-five cents to one dollar in the spring [1897].

John Gregg, Willis, Brown county: I have been in Kansas since '68; have an apple orchard of 120 trees about twenty years old. For a commercial orchard I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, Gano, and Dominie; and would add for a family orchard Red June, Holland Pippin, and Yellow Transparent. I have tried and discarded Willow Twig on account of blight, and Missouri Pippin on account of blight and shy bearing. I prefer high land with a porous clay subsoil, and a north, northeast or northwest aspect. When planting trees I dig deep, wide holes, lean the tree to the southwest, apply water, then fill and tramp well. I cultivate my orchard for five years with an orchard disc; plant corn and potatoes. Seed bearing orchard to clover. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of honey-locust, maple, ash etc., on the south and west sides of the orchard. For rabbits I wrap the trees with corn-stalks. I prune mostly in June, to give the trees shape; I think it pays. I do not thin my fruit, but think it would pay. I do not fertilize my orchard to any extent; think clover is good left on the ground. I do not pasture my orchard; it does not pay. My apples are troubled with codling-moth. I do not spray. I pick my apples by hand into a basket or sack. The shippers do the sorting. I wholesale, retail and peddle my apples; sell the best to shippers, culls to neighbors or make cider of them. My best market is at home; never tried distant markets. Do not dry or store any. Prices have been from seventy-five cents to one dollar per barrel.

William Cutter, Junction City, Geary county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-eight years; have an apple orchard of 4000 trees. For a commercial orchard I prefer the list recommended by the State Horticultural Society. I prefer a rich bottom with a north aspect. I prefer two-year-old trees four or five feet tall, branched low. I cultivate my orchard as long as it lives with a disc harrow or plow. The first five years I plant a crop that requires cultivation, and plant nothing in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are very beneficial; would make them of two rows of Russian mulberries set ten feet apart in a row. I prune very little when young to balance the tree; I think it pays. I do not thin my fruit while on the trees, but think it would pay if I had time. I fertilize my old orchard with stable litter, and think it advisable on all soils. If you do not do this you must prune. I do not pasture my orchards. My trees are troubled with canker worm, root aphis, flathead borer, roundhead borer, woolly aphis, and leaf-roller, and my apples with codling-moth, curculio, and gouger. I spray for canker-worm and codling-moth—the oftener the better. I think I have reduced the codling-moth. I dig the borers out, and kill the rabbits. I carefully pick my apples by hand from a step-ladder, into half-bushel baskets, and sort into three classes—first, second, and culls. Pack in barrels rounded up and marked on the head; then send to market by rail. I sell some apples in the orchard, usually at wholesale. My best markets are south—Texas. I do not dry any. I am successful in storing in boxes, barrels and bulk for home market; I find Fink keeps best. Never tried artificial cold storage. I have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about one-fourth of them. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from fifty cents to one dollar per bushel. I pay my help one dollar per day and board.

A. H. Griesa, Lawrence, Douglas county: I have lived in the state thirty-one years. Have an apple orchard of 1000 trees, from six to eighteen years old. For a commercial orchard I prefer Missouri Pippin, Ben Davis, and Winesap; and for a family orchard Yellow Transparent, Early Melon, Jonathan, and Gano. I have tried and discarded Gilpin, Lawver, and McAfee; they were not productive or good. I prefer a sandy river bottom. I prefer one-year-old trees, set as they grew in the nursery. I cultivate my orchard to small fruits, using a disc or cultivator; cease cropping when the trees spread too much. The more cultivation the better. Windbreaks are not essential. I trap the rabbits; and dig the borers out in May and September. I prune my trees a little each year, to let in sunshine; I think it pays and is beneficial. I thin the fruit while on the trees a very little; but it would pay to while the fruit is small. My trees are in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard with barn-yard litter and ashes; and would advise their use on all soils. I do not pasture my orchard; but think it would pay, with calves and young pigs. My trees are troubled with borers and aphis, and my apples with codling-moth. I do not spray. I pick by hand, and sort into three classes; pack in three-bushel barrels, facing the bottoms, and ship to market by freight or express. I sell apples in the orchard; sell the second and third grades to evaporators. I have tried distant markets, and found it paid. I do not dry any. I am fairly successful in storing apples in boxes and barrels, in a barn cellar, for market and family use, and find the Fink and Cullins keep best. Never tried artificial cold storage. I have to repack stored apples before marketing; the per cent. lost depends on the variety. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from seventy-five cents to two dollars per barrel. I pay my help one dollar per day.

William Bond, Rossville, Shawnee county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-one years; have an apple orchard of about 300 trees, from five to twenty-five years old. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Winesap; and for a family orchard would add Chenango Strawberry and Maiden's Blush. I have tried and discarded Rawle's Janet on account of rot, worms, and shy bearing, and Smith's Cider on account of blight. I prefer bottom land having a deep, porous subsoil and an east or south slope. I prefer two-year old trees, set in rows thirty feet apart each way. I cultivate my orchard with corn or potatoes for six or eight years, using a common cultivator, and cease cropping at the end of this time; plant the bearing orchard to clover. Windbreaks would be beneficial; would make them of forest-trees or Osage orange, by planting in three close rows on the south and west sides of the orchard. For rabbits I tie split corn-stalks around the trees. I prune very little; just enough to keep the head open and the watersprouts off. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. My trees are planted with one variety in a row. I do not fertilize my orchard. I do not pasture my orchard; it is not advisable. My trees are troubled with canker-worms and flathead borers, and my apples with codling-moth. I do not spray. I pick my apples by hand. I sell apples in the orchard; also wholesale, retail and peddle some. The home market is best; never tried distant markets. I do not dry or store any. I do not irrigate. Apples were fifty cents per bushel in the fall of 1897. I paid my help one dollar per day.

Reuben Walton, Aurora, Cloud county: I have lived in Kansas twenty years. Have an apple orchard of 200 trees from six to eighteen years old. For a commercial orchard I prefer Ben Davis, Late Emperor, and Maiden's Blush; and for a family orchard Winesap, Cooper's Early White, Late Emperor, Maiden's Blush, and Rhode Island Greening. I prefer a north slope with a rich black loam and limestone subsoil. I prefer two-year-old, well-rooted trees, set twenty feet apart. I cultivate my orchard to potatoes for ten years, using a double shovel plow, and cease cropping at the end of this time, planting the bearing orchard to grass. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of evergreens. I dig borers out. I prune to give the trees more air and better shape; I think it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees; the hail and dry weather generally do that for me. My trees are in mixed plantings. I have one apricot tree which never bore until a swarm of bees came and lit on it, and it has borne every year since then [??]. I do not fertilize my orchard; our soil does not need it. I pasture my orchard all the time, with hogs and pigs. It is not advisable, as they injure the trees, but they pick up the wormy fruit. My trees are troubled with canker-worms, and my apples with codling-moth. I spray with London purple and Paris green three times, when we have the time and water to spare. Think I have reduced the codling-moth. I pick my fruit by hand and sell some apples to the neighbors in the orchard. I feed culls to pigs. I never tried distant markets. I have apples dried on shares for family use. It does not pay to dry for market. I am partially successful in storing apples in barrels in a cellar under the house. I find Rhode Island Greening, Ben Davis, Duchess of Oldenburg and Emperor keep best. I have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing one-fourth of them. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from twenty to thirty cents per bushel.

W. D. Cellar, Edwardsville, Wyandotte county: Been in Kansas twelve years; have 2000 apple trees from two to eight years of age, comprising Ben Davis, Jonathan, Gano and Missouri Pippin for commercial purposes, and Maiden's Blush, Early Harvest, Bailey Sweet, Huntsman's Favorite, Grimes' Golden Pippin and Winesap for family orchard. I have discarded the McAfee and Lawver as unproductive. I prefer loose soil, and hill land with an east and north slope. Plant thrifty two-year-old trees, in rows 25×30 feet. I cultivate to corn, berries, etc., until seven or eight years old, with the Planet jr. horse hoe, and then sow to clover. Windbreaks are not needed in our locality. I prune conservatively, cutting out broken or interlacing branches, and suckers at the base; I believe it pays. Have never thinned on the tree, and fertilize with barn-yard litter and clover. I do not pasture my apple orchard. Am troubled some with insects, but have not sprayed. I dig out borers, which I think may be largely prevented by the use of wooden tree wrappers. I pick in the ordinary way and divide into two classes: select, sound, smooth apples above two inches in diameter; number two, sound apples too small for select. I do this on a sorting table, and pack in twelve-peck barrels, pressed down, and marked with a stencil. I sell at wholesale, sometimes in the orchard; culls I sell in the orchard or the Kansas City market. Our best market is Kansas City. I have shipped to distant markets and made it pay. Have never dried any. Have stored for winter in barrels in cold store; they have not kept satisfactorily, I cannot say why; Jonathan and Missouri Pippin kept best this past winter. I had to repack this spring and lost twenty per cent. Prices have ranged from 10 cents to $1.50 per bushel. For help I use men, and pay one dollar per day.

C. D. Gaiser, Lansing, Leavenworth county: Have lived in Kansas forty years. Have 5000 trees eight years old, of Gano, Ben Davis, Jonathan, and Huntsman's Favorite; I grow no others. My location is hilltop, with good, rich soil, and a clay subsoil; slope makes no difference. I plant two- and three-year-old trees, 15×30 feet, and cultivate to corn for seven or eight years, and then sow to clover and timothy. I never prune, thin, or fertilize; and allow no stock in the orchard. I do not spray, but dig the flat-headed borer out with a knife. I use ladders, and gather in baskets and pour into a wagon, and sort in unloading; I make only two classes, culls and good apples. I ship my best apples to different points in barrels, and it pays; my culls I make into cider. Have never tried drying apples. I store some for winter in bulk, and keep them successfully. I use men and boys for help. I sell for $1.25 to $1.50 per barrel.

W. H. Robinson, Dunlap, Morris county: Has lived in Kansas thirty years; has 1000 apple trees, planted from two to nineteen years. Prefers Ben Davis, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, Grimes's Golden Pippin and Jonathan for commercial purposes, and Early Harvest, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Duchess of Oldenburg and Cooper's Early White for family use. Has turned down Rawle's Janet, as they rot on the trees. All on best bottom land, clay subsoil. Plants two-year-old trees thirty-five feet apart each way, with nothing [?] between. Plants to corn, and cultivates well up to twelve years. Is protected on the southwest by a belt of timber. Keeps rabbits off by wrapping with corn-stalks. Prunes to make the tree healthier and apples finer; says it pays. Plants varieties in alternate rows, but does not say why. Uses all the stable litter he can get. Pastures with cows after gathering; says they eat the culls and wormy fruit, and it pays. He advises others to try it. Sprays with London purple before blooming, after blooming, and ten days later for tent-caterpillar and codling-moth, and believes he has reduced both of them. Has no borers—thinks "a stitch in time saves nine." Picks and sorts into two classes, first and second. Always sells in the orchard to western apple haulers. Lets the cows have all culls he does not use for cider. Price in orchard for picked apples, forty to fifty cents per bushel.

J. H. Taylor, Rhinehart, Dickinson county: Lived in Kansas twenty-two years. Have 700 apple trees, out from one to nineteen years. Prefer, for commercial purposes, Ben Davis, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and Rawle's Janet; and for family orchard add Early Harvest, Red Astrachan, and Rambo. Have discarded all the specially recommended eastern [?] varieties as shy bearers, and too warm for Grimes's Golden Pippin. Prefers to plant on good black loam, in ravines facing north. Plants two-year-old thrifty trees, some 33×33, others 33×161/2 feet. Have tried to grow root grafts, with poor success. Cultivate all the time with disc and plow; grow corn for five or six years, afterward nothing. Does not need windbreak, but would use if required—about fifteen rows of ash and catalpa, planted four by four feet. Wraps trees from rabbits. Mice ate bark off and completely girdled roots six inches in diameter under the ground last winter (1897-'98). Prunes some to keep the top balanced and low, to prevent sun-scald and effects of wind. Uses fresh stable litter as a mulch, and believes it pays. Does not pasture at any time. Has few insects, and does not spray much, says rains wash it off too readily. Picks in baskets, and finds the family the best market; stores for winter in boxes and barrels, and is successful with Rawle's Janet, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin. Prices have run from fifty cents to one dollar per bushel. Uses farm help at fifteen to eighteen dollars and board per month.

James Lawry, Hollis, Cloud county: I have lived in the state sixteen years; have an apple orchard of 140 trees from six to fourteen years old. For all uses I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin. I have discarded the Willow Twig because they die out. I prefer a clay soil. I prefer three-year-old trees set in big holes. I cultivate my orchard about five years with a one-horse shovel plow. I plant potatoes or sweet corn in a bearing orchard, and cease cropping when the trees cover the ground, and sow red clover in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of mulberries. I prune with a saw, to make them more productive; I think it pays. I never thin my fruit while on the trees. Can see no difference whether trees are in block of one kind or mixed plantings. I do not fertilize my orchard, or spray. I pick my apples by hand from a ladder. I do not sell in the orchard. I do not pasture my orchard. Don't dry any.

Levi Kimmal, Concordia, Cloud county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-five years; have an apple orchard of 120 trees eighteen years old. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Winesap; and for a family orchard Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Limber Twig, and Maiden's Blush. I have tried and discarded Golden Russet on account of shy bearing. I prefer a sandy loam with a clay subsoil, having a north or northwest aspect. I prefer two-year-old trees for planting. I plant my orchard up to bearing with potatoes and corn; then seed down to red clover. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of several rows of Osage orange on the south side of the orchard. I prune my trees; thin out the top to let the sun in for coloring. My trees are more fruitful when planted in blocks. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter; I think it beneficial because it mulches, enriches, and holds the moisture, and would advise its use on all soils; no land is so good but what stable litter will make it better. I do not pasture my orchard; I do not think it advisable; but I mow all the weeds or whatever grows in the orchard and leave it on the ground for a mulching. My trees are troubled with twig-borers and leaf-rollers, and my apples with codling-moth. I have sprayed my trees when in blossom with Paris green; did not succeed last year. I dig borers out and pick the bad fruit (if there is any) off. I hand-pick my apples for winter use into baskets from step-ladders. I sell apples in the orchard; would rather sell that way than to hold them. I feed the culls to pigs. My best market is at home; I never tried a distant market. I do not dry any. I am successful in storing apples for home use in a cellar. I do not irrigate, but use stable litter for moisture. Winter apples brought fifty cents per bushel; dried apples three or four cents per pound.

Seneca Heath, Muscotah, Atchison county: I have lived in the state thirty-one years; have an apple orchard of 2080 trees from three to thirty-six years old. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, York Imperial, Jonathan, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Stark, and on rich, moist soil, Winesap; and for a family orchard Early Margaret, Early June, Early Harvest, Cooper's Early White, Sweet Bough, Keswick Codlin, Maiden's Blush, Red Astrachan, Autumn and Summer Pearmain, Rambo, Fulton, Smith's Cider, and Newtown Pippin (if given extra care). Have tried and discarded Tompkins County King—the borers kill it on all soils—and Willow Twig on account of blight. I prefer upland with a black sandy or gravelly loam and a good limestone soil, with a porous subsoil as a necessity, and a northeast slope. I prefer thrifty one-year-old trees, set in plowed furrows and covered with a spade; "hill up" rather than "dig down." I cultivate my orchard to corn or any cultivated crop for eight years, using a plow and harrow, and cease cropping at the end of this time, and plant nothing in a bearing orchard; it does not pay. Windbreaks are essential, especially on upland. I would make them of red cedar, soft maple, or Osage orange, by planting in rows and cultivating four to six years. For rabbits I use tarred paper, and wood ashes for borers. I prune my trees with a saw and shears to produce fruit and shape; I think it pays, but the Ben Davis and Jonathan grow into handsomer shapes if left alone. If a tree is growing too rapidly to set fruit, prune in June. I thin the fruit while on the trees by picking off the wormy and defective ones. I keep this up until nearly grown; it pays. My trees are in mixed plantings, and believe they are more fruitful.

I fertilize my orchard with barn-yard litter, ashes, salt, and lime, and would advise it on all excepting rich soils, where it ought not to be used until after the trees have fruited five to eight years. Probably the cheapest and best fertilizer on upland is clover mowed and left to decay where it fell. Weeds are also good if mowed when two feet high and left on the ground. I pasture my orchard with pigs, calves, and horses, but it does not pay. My trees are troubled with tent-caterpillars and round-headed borers, and my apples with codling-moth. I spray with a two-horse wagon sprayer, also a hand sprayer, when the blossom falls, with Paris green, and think I have reduced the codling-moth. I burn tent-caterpillars with a coal-oil lamp or torch. I pick my apples by hand into half-bushel baskets, from ladders. I sell my apples in the orchard. I sell, feed to the stock, and make cider of the culls. I do not dry any, but think it would pay. I have stored apples in barrels, and found the Winesap, Rawle's Janet, Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Stark and Baldwin keep best. I am not always successful; will not store any more until I build a fruit house. I do not irrigate, but intend to. Prices have been from 75 cents to $1.75 per barrel. I employ men and boys, and pay two cents per bushel for picking.

Ed. Sandy, Linn, Washington county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-eight years. Have an apple orchard of 100 trees, fifteen years old. I prefer a north slope. I plant my orchard to corn, using a cultivator; and continue cultivating bearing orchard. I prune my trees. Do not thin the fruit while on the trees. I fertilize my orchard with barn-yard litter, and think it beneficial; I would advise its use only on upland. I do not pasture my orchard. My apples are troubled with codling-moth and curculio. I have sprayed with Paris green for worms, and am not very successful.

J. A. Courter, Barnes, Washington county: Have lived in Kansas since 1869; have an apple orchard of 150 trees, set from nine to twenty-five years. I prefer bottom land with a northeast slope. I cultivate my orchard to corn all the time. Windbreaks are not essential. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter; my trees grew fine, but for the last three or four years they have blighted badly. I do not spray. I store some apples for winter use in boxes in a cave.

Thomas Brown, Palmer, Washington county: I have resided in the state twenty-eight years. Have an apple orchard of 500 trees from three to twenty years old. For a commercial orchard I prefer Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and Ben Davis, and for family orchard Cooper's Early White, Maiden's Blush, and Jonathan. I prefer sandy land on an east slope. I plant trees in rows sixteen by twenty-one feet. I mulch my orchard with straw, and plow every three or four years. Windbreaks are essential; I would make them of maple or box-elders, planted around the orchard. I prune some, but it does not pay. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter; I think it beneficial, and would advise its use on all soils. I pasture my orchard some with swine, but it is not advisable; it does not pay. My trees are troubled with fall web-worms. I do not spray. I pick my apples by hand. I sometimes sell the apples in the orchard at retail. My best market is at home; I never tried distant markets. I do not dry any. Am successful in storing apples in boxes and barrels in a cellar. Winesap and Missouri Pippin keep best. I never tried cold storage. I have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about one-third of them. I do not irrigate. Prices have been about fifty cents per bushel.

D. J. Fraser, Peabody, Marion county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-three years; have 380 apple trees ten inches in diameter, twenty-two years planted. I prefer for commercial purposes Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Grimes's Golden Pippin, and Maiden's Blush; and for family use would add Early Harvest, Sweet June, and Winesap; have tried and discarded about thirty other varieties, because they did not yield or were subject to disease. I prefer bottom land, with north slope, made land. I plow out deep, dead furrow; set trees and plow the earth back to the trees. I prefer two- or three-year-old strong trees. Have tried root grafts and seedlings with good success. I cultivate the trees the first ten years with the plow and harrow. I grow nothing in a young orchard, and seed the old orchard to clover. I think windbreaks are essential on the south, and would make them of Osage orange or mulberry, planted in double rows, a few feet apart. Wrap trees for rabbits, and for borers keep trees thrifty. I prune some to keep the top balanced, and think it beneficial. I have thinned fruit some, but do not think it pays. My trees are in mixed plantings, and I keep bees. I have used fertilizer, but could not see much benefit; would advise it only on thin soils. I have pastured my orchard with hogs, and think it advisable; it pays. My trees are bothered with canker-worm, root aphis, flathead borer, and twig-borer; the codling-moth troubles my apples. I have sprayed with Bordeaux mixture, London purple, and Paris green; could not see much good; have reduced the codling-moth some. I pick my apples the old-fashioned way—with a sack. Practically, the crop has been so light that very few have been sold, and they were fall apples. Have never dried any; have never stored any. Do not irrigate. Prices have been unsatisfactory.

J. B. Mosher, Lawrenceburg, Cloud county: I have lived in Kansas seventeen years. Have an orchard of 150 trees, planted from one to seventeen years. For family orchard would plant Early Harvest, Cooper's Early, Duchess of Oldenburg, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Winesap, Rawle's Janet, and Ben Davis. Medium elevation, with northern or northeastern slope, and clay-loam soil with clay subsoil, is preferable. When planting, I dig a hole large enough to receive the roots, and plant healthy two-year-old trees, trained to a switch, so that I can train the top to suit. Have tried root grafts and seedlings; both have done well. I cultivate while the trees are young, and use only harrow and mowing-machine after they begin to bear. I plant any hoed crop among the trees while young, and cease when the trees begin to bear. I think windbreaks essential, and use maple, box-elder, and Scotch pine. For rabbits I use traps and shot-gun. I use a knife for the borers. I prune when the tree needs it; use the saw on large trees and the knife on small trees. I thin the fruit sometimes when it sets too thickly, as soon as it shows, and it pays most emphatically. I cannot see any difference in trees whether set in blocks or mixed up. I use some barn-yard fertilizer, and think it beneficial; would advise its use as the trees begin to bear. I pasture my orchard with pigs and poultry; think it advisable, and think it pays.

My trees are troubled with bud moth, flathead borer, and twig-borer; some seasons I also have leaf-roller and leaf-crumpler. The codling-moth troubles my apples. I spray some to destroy these insects, with indigo and London purple, using a pump. I do not know that I have reduced the codling-moth any. For borer I form a basin around the tree and fill with water, repeating several times; I sometimes pick them. I use an ordinary fruit ladder, and sack with ends tied together and swung over the shoulder. I make but one class, viz., market all the perfect apples. I carefully put in a fruit-house and let stay a week or so, then carefully sort over by removing all unsound or faulty ones. I do not ship. I have a good market at home. I never sell in the orchard; usually market in bushel boxes. I usually feed second- or third-class fruit to hogs. My best market is Concordia. Have never tried distant markets. I have never dried any apples. I store some for winter use in an ordinary cellar; am successful, and find Winesap, Rawle's Janet and Missouri Pippin keep the best. We have to repack after storing, and lose about one-third. I do not irrigate. Winesap, Missouri Pippin and Rawle's Janet usually sell at one dollar per bushel; Ben Davis, at seventy-five cents per bushel.

C. C. Gardiner, Bradford, Wabaunsee county: Have lived in Kansas thirty-nine years, in this county fourteen years; have 750 apple trees ten years planted. For commercial orchard I would plant Ben Davis, Winesap and Missouri Pippin; for family use, add Jonathan and Maiden's Blush. Have tried and discarded Keswick Codlin; tree is tender. I prefer hilltop, north and west or northeast slope, black loam with a yellowish clay subsoil. I plant thirty feet apart, using one- and two-year-old, low-headed trees. Have tried root grafts; had good success. I cultivate until the trees are six or seven years old with the plow and cultivator. I grow corn in a young orchard, and clover in a bearing orchard; cease cropping when six or seven years old. Windbreaks are beneficial on the south and west; they should be made of quick-growing trees. I wrap the trees with paper to protect against rabbits. I prune but little to thin top; am doubtful if it pays. Never thin apples on trees. I fertilize the land with well-rotted manure, but not close the trees; I would advise its use on all soils; I think it beneficial; I sometimes pasture my orchard with hogs; do not think it advisable; pays only in getting rid of wormy fruit. My trees are troubled with leaf-roller, and my apples with codling-moth. Do not spray. Gather my apples by hand, and sort into two classes, first, second and culls.

Isaac E. Wolf, Longford, Clay county: Have been in Kansas twenty-one years; have 200 apple trees nineteen years old, and 100 apple trees six years old. Prefer Ben Davis, Winesap and Missouri Pippin for market, and Maiden's Blush, Duchess of Oldenburg and Smith Cider for family orchard. The Red Astrachan and Early Harvest are shy bearers. My orchard is on sandy soil with clay subsoil; the trees look healthy. I prefer two-year-old trees, and lay the ground off in squares, making large holes. In young orchard I plant corn for ten years, cultivating both ways; after that I grow nothing, but cultivate with the disc as long as I can get through it. Am cultivating my old orchard. I think windbreaks are a necessity on the south, west, and north, and would make them of walnut and box-elder. For rabbits I rub on strong grease. I prune with shears such limbs as rub one another, and am sure it pays. I don't think it pays to thin fruit on the trees. I believe in fertilizing the ground, but not too close to the trees; it won't hurt any soil. Allow no stock in the orchard. The twig-borer is the worst insect in my orchard. I tried spraying on some trees, and some I did not, and my apples were all alike. I watch for borers closely, and cut them out. I pick in a grain sack, and make three classes. The best I keep for spring, the second class for winter, and the culls I turn into cider. I peddle my apples out at home. We dry some apples and have a good market at home. We store for winter in the cellar in bulk, and find that Winesap, Rawle's Janet and Missouri Pippin are the best keepers.