rmain.
Never have tried artificial cold storage. We have to repack stored
apples before sending to market; lose about five per cent. Prices have
been from fifty cents to one dollar per bushel, and dried apples five
cents per pound. I employ farm hands at from ten dollars to eighteen
dollars per month.

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THOMAS W. SMITH, Baxter Springs, Cherokee county: Have lived in Kansas
twenty-eight years. My trees were destroyed in the storm of 1895. For
commercial purposes I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin.
Prefer hilltop with an east slope. I cultivate at six years; seed a
bearing orchard to clover. Windbreaks are not essential. Never thinned
apples. Pasture my orchard with cows and horses. Prices during winter
have been forty cents per bushel.

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S. H. BAILEY, Uniontown, Bourbon county: I have lived in Kansas fifteen
years, and have an orchard of 150 apple trees thirty years old. I prefer
Canada Pippin [Downing calls this White Pippin], Ben Davis, Rome Beauty,
Jonathan, Missouri Pippin, and Maiden's Blush, for all purposes. I
prefer hillside land, with a northeastern slope. I plant apple trees
thirty feet apart each way. I cultivate in potatoes, corn, or any hoed
crop, using a hoe and cultivator. I sow a bearing orchard to clover, and
cease cropping at ten or twelve years. Windbreaks are essential, and I
would make them of Osage orange planted thirty feet from the trees. I
prune a little every year, to get rid of dead limbs, and also thin out
the center of trees, to improve the fruit. I use a saw and knife. My
trees are in block. It is beneficial to mulch with old hay or straw in
drought. I pasture my orchard with small calves, but would not advise
it, as it does not pay. I sprayed with a pump, using London purple, but
it did little good. I cut borers out, and then pour coal-oil in the
holes. I hand-pick my apples in a sack, using a ladder. I sort into two
classes--good and second best. If for home use, I put them in rail pens
for about three weeks; then sort out the good ones and make cider of the
culls. I pack in three-bushel barrels, and ship to Kansas City. I sell
my best apples to shippers. I dry and make cider of the second- and
third-class apples, and feed the culls to the hogs and cows. I store
some for home use, and would store more if I had cold storage. We have
to repack stored apples before selling, and lose about one-h