wo rods east and west. I will cultivate my orchard as long as the trees
live with a Planet jr. twelve-tooth cultivator. I plant strawberries in
a bearing orchard; they are as good as clover. Windbreaks would be
beneficial; I would make them of Osage orange. For rabbits I rub blood
on the trees. I dig the borers out with a knife and wire. I prune very
little, with the pruning shears, to remove watersprouts and interlocking
limbs. It preserves their symmetry, but does not make them more
fruitful. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees; the wind does it
for me. My trees are in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard with
stable litter between the trees. It is very beneficial, and I would
advise its use on all soils excepting very rich bottoms, where it would
cause too much wood growth at the expense of the fruit. I do not pasture
my orchard; it is not advisable. My trees are troubled with canker-worm,
tent-caterpillar, root aphis, roundhead borer, and leaf-crumpler, and my
apples with codling-moth and curculio. I am successful in spraying,
using London purple with a pump when the canker-worms appear, and a few
days afterward. For root-lice I remove the earth from around the trees
and pour in tobacco water. I do not dry any. I do not irrigate. Prices
have been forty cents for apples in the fall, one dollar per bushel
during the winter, while home-grown lasted, and two dollars per bushel
now (April). Dried apples sold for five to ten cents per pound,
according to quality.

* * * * *

J. H. BILSING, Udall, Cowley county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-seven
years. Have an orchard of sixty apple trees from sixteen to twenty-six
years old. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Limber Twig, Jonathan, and
Grimes's Golden Pippin, and for family use Jonathan, Grimes's Golden
Pippin, Red June, and Maiden's Blush. Have tried and discarded Big
Romanite; it is a good grower but a poor bearer. I prefer bottom land
with sandy loam and clay subsoil, and a north slope. Prefer thrifty
two-year-old trees, set in land which has been plowed as deeply as
possible, and the soil loosened fifteen to eighteen inches by digging.
My trees are set 30x30 feet; this is a little too wide north and south.
I am still cultivating my first planting of trees, use a plow, harrow,
and cultivator. Plant corn in a young orchard, and cease cropping after
eight or ten years. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of peach
groves for q