he ground mellow. Grows corn from
nine to ten years, then clover; says small grain hurts trees. Thinks
evergreens best for windbreaks, but does not think such protection
essential. Keeps dogs for the rabbits. Prunes with hedge shears, and
says it certainly pays. Believes barn-yard litter beneficial in any
orchard, on any soil. While he thinks pasturing not advisable, and that
it will not pay, he says he will probably pasture in fore part of
seasons with calves, after he has seeded to clover. Sprays with London
purple and lime as soon as canker-worm appears. Is not troubled with
borers. Would irrigate if he could. Has yet had too little fruit to
market.

* * * * *

HENRY NEIL, Weir, Cherokee county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-eight
years; have 148 apple trees, from three years old to very large. For
market I use Ben Davis; for family, Early Harvest, Winesap, and
Romanite. I prefer hilltop, with an eastern slope, black loam soil, with
gravelly subsoil. I plant two-year-old thrifty trees, thirty-three feet
apart each way, in the spring. I cultivate until they bear, growing corn
and potatoes, after that grass. I prefer a disc cultivator. I think
windbreaks are a great help; and Osage orange is the best I know of. For
rabbits I tie stalks or wire cloth around the tree. Have never had any
borers. I trim with a saw and knife to take out superfluous wood and
give light, and I think it pays. I never have thinned any. I think
barn-yard fertilizer will pay in the orchard. I pasture my orchard very
little, and think it does not pay. I have never sprayed any, and believe
tent-caterpillar is the worst insect that troubles me. I pick in a sack
tied over my shoulder, and sort into three classes--number one, the very
best; number two, those that are specked; number three, culls. I
generally sell to retailers, at our home market, and make cider of the
culls; never tried a distant market. Have never dried any. I store
sometimes in bulk in a cellar under the house, and find that Winesap and
Romanite keep the best. Prices run from twenty-five cents to one dollar
per bushel, and dried fruit from two and a half to six cents per pound.
I use regular monthly farm help.

* * * * *

JOHN A. MAGILL, Roper, Wilson county: I have resided in Kansas
thirty-one years. Have an orchard of 7000 trees, sixteen acres of it
twenty-five years old, and sixty acres six years old. I think Ben Dav