tilize. I
pasture my orchard with hogs at certain times in the spring when
worthless apples are dropping. My trees are troubled with canker-worm
and tent-caterpillar. I do not spray. I pick my apples by hand and carry
them to the cellar. I do not store any apples for winter market.
* * * * *
C. H. TAYLOR, Eskridge, Wabaunsee county: Have lived in Kansas
thirty-eight years. Have 1400 apple trees, five to fifteen years old,
six to twelve inches in diameter. For market I grow Ben Davis, Missouri
Pippin, and Jonathan; for family orchard I would advise Winesap, Rawle's
Janet, Cooper's Early White, Maiden's Blush, and Jonathan; and I would
discard nearly all others. I prefer bottom land, with black loam and
open subsoil, north slope. Would plant one- or two-year-old, low-top
trees, twenty-five feet apart each way. I have grown root grafts with
success. I shall cultivate as long as the trees live, growing corn among
them until the growth of the trees prevents it. I believe all the
windbreak necessary is an ordinary fence. I use traps for the rabbits
and a knife for the borers. I thin the fruit on the trees in the early
summer, after they are well set. I believe barn-yard fertilizer
beneficial to any orchard. I pasture my orchard with hogs, and think it
advisable, and that it pays. I have some insects, but do not spray; I
burn some. I pick by hand in half-bushel baskets; sort into two classes,
market and cider; pack into barrels, and usually sell in the orchard at
wholesale. Never shipped to a distant market. Do not dry any. Have
stored some for winter in the cellar in bulk, and find that the Missouri
Pippin, Winesap and Rawle's Janet keep the best. I do not irrigate.
Price averages about twenty-five cents per bushel. I use ordinary farm
hands at fifteen to twenty dollars per month.
* * * * *
FRANK SEIFERT, Strawberry, Washington county: I have lived in Kansas
twenty-eight years; have an apple orchard of 150 trees, from three to
twenty years planted. For commercial purposes I prefer Ben Davis,
Missouri Pippin, and Winesap, and for family orchard would add Maiden's
Blush. Have tried and discarded Willow Twig on account of blight. I
prefer limestone upland with an eastern aspect. I prefer three-year-old
trees for planting. I cultivate my orchard for eight or ten years with a
plow and harrow. I seed bearing orchard to red clover. Windbreaks are
essential; would
|