J. B. Schlichter, Sterling, Rice county: I have lived in Kansas since 1871. For market I prefer Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Willow Twig, and Rawle's Janet, and for a family orchard Maiden's Blush and Early Harvest. I have tried and discarded Ben Davis because they died when eighteen or twenty years old; they are no good here. I prefer a northeast slope, with a sandy loam and a clay subsoil. I prefer small two-year-old trees, set 16×24 feet, rows running north and south. I plant my orchard to corn up to bearing age, using the plow and harrow, and plant nothing after they begin to bear, but keep up the cultivation. Windbreaks are essential; I would make them of two or three rows of Russian mulberries, on the south side of the orchard. I do not prune my trees; it does not pay. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. My trees are in mixed plantings. I do not fertilize my orchard. I do not pasture my orchard; it is not advisable. I do not spray. I pick my apples by hand, the old way; sort into two classes. I dry some.

FRUIT DISTRICT No. 4.

Following is the fourth district, composed of twenty-four counties in southeast quarter of the state. Reports, or rather experiences, from each of these counties will be found immediately following. We give below the number of apple trees in the fourth district, as compiled from the statistics of 1897. Many thousands were added in the spring of 1898.

Bearing.Not bearing.Total.
Allen122,01564,449186,464
Anderson111,37246,719158,091
Bourbon175,96140,570216,531
Butler182,82753,966236,793
Chase46,76225,19169,953
Chautauqua96,86522,853119,718
Cherokee238,33192,067330,398
Coffey167,25568,247235,502
Cowley172,64850,767223,415
Crawford143,08934,798177,887
Elk101,60134,343135,944
Greenwood117,84070,224188,064
Harvey85,47130,613116,084
Labette257,91583,345341,260
Linn108,65445,285153,939
Lyon161,295116,176277,471
Marion86,83864,359151,197
McPherson122,53838,498161,036
Montgomery121,28235,572156,854
Neosho159,44361,754221,197
Sedgwick182,36374,742257,105
Sumner140,61336,961177,574
Wilson139,86947,876187,745
Woodson72,81524,48597,300
Total in district No. 43,315,8621,163,6604,479,522
Estimated acreage650,000220,000870,000

Wm. Snyder, Towanda, Butler county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-seven years; have an orchard of 1200 trees—200 twenty-six years old, diameter twelve to fifteen inches, thirty feet high; 700 twelve years old, eight to ten inches in diameter at base, twelve to fifteen feet high; 300 eight years old, five to six inches in diameter at the ground, eight to ten feet high. For all purposes I prefer Summer Rose, Early Harvest, Duchess of Oldenburg, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Jonathan, Missouri Pippin, Winesap, and Ben Davis. Bottom land is best for Ben Davis and Winesap; other varieties named will do better on high ground. Northeast slope is preferable; black loam with clay subsoil. I plant healthy three-year-old trees, branching three feet from ground, in deep furrows, crossmarked with plow; stand trees erect, and tramp earth firmly about the roots. I cultivate my orchard five years with plow and cultivator, and grow corn in young orchard. I cease after five years, and grow nothing in bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of peach, Russian mulberry, or cedar, by planting several rows on south of orchard. For rabbits, fence with two-foot poultry netting; for borers, whitewash and cultivate. I prune just a little with saw or shears to remove interlocking branches only; it pays. Never have thinned my fruit; believe it does not pay. Can distinguish no difference whether trees are in blocks of one kind or mixed plantings. I do not fertilize my orchard. Stable litter would, I think, benefit thin soil. I do not pasture my orchard; it is not advisable, and does not pay.

My apple trees are troubled with canker-worm, root aphis, and fall web-worm. Have sprayed for fifteen years, for canker-worm and codling-moth. Have used London purple and arsenate of lime. I spray for canker-worm as soon as they hatch and the buds begin to open, and again before bloom opens; for codling-moth, at time the bloom drops. I have reduced the codling-moth very much. I pick my apples by hand, from a ladder, into baskets, and sort into two classes usually; first class, for market, picked by hand; second class, for cider, shaken off. Have never used packages of any kind. Usually deliver in wagon. I sell apples in the orchard, wholesale and retail. Sell best to my neighbors, in orchard. Second and third grades I sell cheap and convert into cider and vinegar. The culls I feed to cattle and hogs. My best market is in the orchard and at Wichita; never have tried distant markets. Never dry any. Sometimes I store apples for winter market in a cellar, but prefer a cave; store in boxes and bulk. Am fairly successful; have apples in cellar at this time (May 1), Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Ben Davis, and Grimes's Golden Pippin, in the order named. Never have tried artificial cold storage; have to repack stored apples, if late, losing from ten to fifteen per cent. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from 50 cents to $1.50 per bushel. I employ the best help I can get, and pay seventy-five cents per day and board.