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.