beneficial, and that it pays. I do not thin my fruit while on the trees,
but think it would pay. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter; think
it beneficial; would advise its use on sandy land. My trees are troubled
with flathead borer, and my fruit with codling-moth and curculio. I do
not spray. I pick my apples from ladders; pile those taken from eight
trees together and cover with hay. Sort into three classes: First, sound
and large; second, sound and small; third, spotted. I sell apples in the
orchard, also wholesale and retail; pack my best in bushel boxes and
sell to grocers. Sell my second and third grades to peddlers and farmers
from the west. My best market is at home. Have tried distant markets and
found they paid. Am successful in storing apples in bulk in a bank
cellar, Winesap and Missouri Pippin keeping the best. Do not irrigate.
Good apples sold here this winter for one dollar per bushel. I employ
farm hands at farm wages.

* * * * *

C. H. LONGSTRETH, Lakin, Kearny county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-nine
years. I have 3400 apple trees--500 eleven years old, 1200 eight years
old, 700 six years old, and 1000 set this spring. For market I prefer
Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Winesap. For family use I would advise
Early Harvest, Red June, Maiden's Blush, Chenango Strawberry, Smith's
Cider, Huntsman's Favorite, Rome Beauty, Jonathan, Ben Davis, Winesap,
and Missouri Pippin. Have discarded the Red Astrachan, Willow Twig, and
Cooper's Early White, as they will not bear. I prefer second bottom,
not too high or too low; sandy loam, with loose clay subsoil; any slope
is good, north preferred. I prefer small-sized, well rooted,
two-year-old trees, planted with a spade, in deeply plowed, thoroughly
prepared ground, and would cultivate until they die of old age. I use a
sixteen-inch disc, Acme harrow, Thomas's smoothing harrow, and Barnes's
weeder. I grow small fruit and vegetables among the trees until of
bearing age. Would plant windbreaks of six or eight rows of North
Carolina poplars, honey and black locust, Russian mulberry, white ash,
and box-elder, one-year seedlings, two feet apart, in rows four feet
apart, on the north and south side of orchard. For rabbits, I wrap my
trees as soon as possible after planting. I prune with a knife to admit
sun and air, and to keep down suckers and limbs that rub each other. I
thin all through the season, taking out imperfect fruit as far a