saw and knife, and think it
pays. Never have thinned my apples, but if it were necessary would do it
before they begin to hang down. My trees are in mixed plantings. I mulch
my orchard with stable litter and straw; would not advise its use on all
soils. I do not pasture my orchard, but think it would be advisable, as
they would eat insects. My trees are troubled with flathead borer, and
my apples with curculio. The first of June I dig the borers out with a
penknife and cut their heads off. I pick my apples by hand. I sell
apples in the orchard at retail; feed the culls to hogs. My best market
is among the neighbors. I store apples for my own use by burying, and
find the Missouri Pippin, Ben Davis and Romanite keep best. I do not
irrigate, but ought to. Prices have been from fifty cents to one dollar
per bushel at picking time.

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N. MAYRATH, Dodge, Ford county: I have lived in Kansas twenty years.
Have 250 apple trees eight to twelve years old, six to ten inches in
diameter. I prefer upland for fruit, a sandy loam, with a northern
aspect. I prefer two-year-old grafts, planted thirty by thirty feet east
and west. Have tried root grafts with success. I cultivate my orchard to
garden-truck and hoed crops, using plow in spring, then the disc or Acme
harrow. I keep the ground clear of weeds and mellow up to the middle of
July. I cease cropping after four or five years, planting nothing in a
bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential here in western Kansas, and I
would make them of Russian mulberry, in one or more rows, north and
south of the orchard.

* * * * *

M. M. WILSON, Zionville, Grant county: I have resided in Kansas fourteen
years; have an apple orchard of 300 trees ten years old, four to six
inches in diameter. I prefer sandy bottom land.

* * * * *

THOMAS E. HOCKETT, Hugoton, Stevens county: I have lived in the state
thirteen years; have an apple orchard of sixty trees eight years old,
eight to twelve feet high. I prefer dark, sandy loam. I dig large holes,
set one-year-old trees, putting top soil around the roots. I cultivate
my orchard with a stirring plow and hoe, and plant nothing; am still
cultivating. Windbreaks are essential. I would make them of two or three
rows of mulberry trees. For protection from rabbits I rub dead rabbit on
the tree, and repeat if necessary when we have much rain. I prune very