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.