. I spray with London purple,
Paris green, and kerosene emulsion. We pick apples by hand and are
careful not to bruise them. I sort into two classes; the small and
defective go to the chickens. I generally retail my apples toward
spring; sell second and third grades wherever I can; make cider of
culls. My best markets are home and Newton. Do not dry any for market. I
store 300 or 400 bushels of apples in a cellar 32x32 feet, cemented
sides and bottom, with plenty of windows and doors for ventilation; am
fairly successful; Ben Davis and Winesap keep best. I have to repack
them before marketing. I do not irrigate. Prices have been 40 cents to
$1.75 per bushel. I employ ordinary farm hands at $200 per year.

* * * * *

P. C. BROWN, Cherryvale, Montgomery county: I have lived in Kansas
eighteen years; have an apple orchard of 600 trees from six to
twenty-four years old. For commercial orchard I prefer Ben Davis and
Jonathan, and for family orchard would add Maiden's Blush, Lowell, and
Grimes's Golden Pippin. Have tried and discarded Missouri Pippin,
Lawver, and Roxbury Russet. I prefer a first or second bottom, with a
northern or western aspect, sandy loam with gravelly subsoil. I prefer
two-year-old, well-headed trees, set thirty by thirty. I have some set
thirty by fifteen feet, but intend to grub every other one out when
large. I plant my orchard to corn or potatoes, cultivating two or four
times a year until they begin to bear, using a stirring plow, Acme
harrow, and Planet jr. horse cultivator. Never cease cropping, but
pasture with hogs. Sow grass and clover in a bearing orchard. Do not cut
and take crop off more than twice after they begin to bear. Windbreaks
are not essential, but if they were I should make them of any kind of
trees or hedges, by planting on south and west sides. For rabbits I
inclose the tree with wire screening. I dig the borers out. I prune
trees while young, until they begin to bear, by cutting out the cross
branches and watersprouts. This will promote wood growth, if done in
early spring. It is generally beneficial. I have thinned the fruit
sometimes, but it does not pay. Can't see any difference whether trees
are in blocks of one variety or in mixed plantings. I fertilize my
orchard with lime and ashes in limited quantities. It is beneficial only
on loose, loamy soil; would not advise its use on heavy clay soils. I
pasture my orchard after it comes into full bea