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.