g-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