ater, in May and June. I
sort in first, second, and cider or culls; pack in three-bushel barrels
so full they cannot bruise. I expect to put in an evaporator and use
natural gas for fuel, and think it will pay. I recommend subsoiling to
retain moisture. Prices have ranged here from thirty to fifty cents per
bushel.
* * * * *
F. S. HALL, Fulton, Bourbon county: Has lived in Kansas fourteen years.
Have 10,000 apple trees from two to eight years old. For commercial
purposes the Ben Davis and Arkansas Black are doing best. Will not plant
any more Missouri Pippins. My orchard is on a hill, with northeast
slope, black soil, set thirty-three feet east and west and sixteen feet
north and south. Set one- and two-year-old well-branched trees.
Cultivate entirely with a disc, and allow nothing to grow within six
feet of the trees. Grow only clover, and expect to grow only clover in
my orchard. Think an Osage hedge a good windbreak. Use tar paper and
traps against rabbits. Prune nothing above twenty inches from the
ground. Never thinned apples on trees. Fertilize with ashes and all the
manure I can get, and turn under clover. Think such fertilizers
beneficial for apples on all soils. Opposed to pasturing an orchard. Not
much troubled with insects. Spray before and after blooming, first with
Bordeaux mixture, then sulphate of copper and either Paris green or
London purple. Think I have reduced the codling-moth by this method.
Keep down borers by cultivation and a wash of lime, concentrated lye,
and carbolic acid.
* * * * *
R. N. MARK, Strawn, Coffey county: Have lived in Kansas thirty years.
Have an orchard of twelve acres; trees twelve years old. For commercial
purposes I prefer Winesap and Ben Davis. Timber bottom is best. I
cultivate my orchard to corn and potatoes, and cease cropping when ten
or twelve years old; plant potatoes in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are
essential on the south; would make them of forest-trees. To protect from
rabbits I wrap young trees, or kill rabbits, cut open, and rub
thoroughly on the tree. I prune my trees to give proper shape, and think
it beneficial, especially on poor land, as it makes the trees more
productive. Do not thin fruit on the trees. I pasture my orchard
carefully with hogs and calves at any time when it is not wet. Trees are
troubled with canker-worm. I spray early and often with London purple. I
pick my apples in
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