vate my orchard as long as it lasts with a twelve-inch plow; throw
the dirt away first of June, and back in August; then harrow it. I plant
potatoes and corn in a young orchard, and cease cropping after ten
years. I plant nothing in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential;
would make them of rows of Osage orange on the north and south sides of
the orchard. I prune as little as possible. I fertilize my orchard with
cow-stable and horse-stable litter mixed; I think it beneficial, and
would advise it on all soils, unless very rich. I pasture my orchard
once in a while with hogs without rings in their noses, so they can hunt
worms. My trees are troubled with borers. I do not spray. I pick my
apples in sack from ladders. Sort into three classes, and peddle them. I
use Topping's driers and Williams's parers; they are satisfactory. After
drying I pack in fifty-pound boxes. I find a ready market in Kansas City
for them, but it does not pay. I am successful in storing apples in
small boxes and barrels in a cellar; Gilpin and Ben Davis keep best. I
have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about five per
cent. I do not irrigate. Prices were thirty-five to fifty cents in the
fall; seventy-five cents to one dollar in the spring [1897].

* * * * *

JOHN GREGG, Willis, Brown county: I have been in Kansas since '68; have
an apple orchard of 120 trees about twenty years old. For a commercial
orchard I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, Gano, and Dominie; and would add
for a family orchard Red June, Holland Pippin, and Yellow Transparent. I
have tried and discarded Willow Twig on account of blight, and Missouri
Pippin on account of blight and shy bearing. I prefer high land with a
porous clay subsoil, and a north, northeast or northwest aspect. When
planting trees I dig deep, wide holes, lean the tree to the southwest,
apply water, then fill and tramp well. I cultivate my orchard for five
years with an orchard disc; plant corn and potatoes. Seed bearing
orchard to clover. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of
honey-locust, maple, ash etc., on the south and west sides of the
orchard. For rabbits I wrap the trees with corn-stalks. I prune mostly
in June, to give the trees shape; I think it pays. I do not thin my
fruit, but think it would pay. I do not fertilize my orchard to any
extent; think clover is good left on the ground. I do not pasture my
orchard; it does not pay. My apples are trouble