S. S. WEATHERBY, Le Roy, Coffey county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-seven years. Have 500 apple trees, twelve years planted, six inches in diameter. Grow only Ben Davis, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin. Have discarded Willow Twig on account of blight. My location is in the bottom, with rich loam and sandy subsoil. I have planted in rows thirty-two feet distant; cultivate in corn for four years after planting, and use the disc harrow as much as possible. In a bearing orchard I would put clover. Believe windbreaks are essential, made of any kind of forest-trees, planted thickly, in two or three rows around the orchard, and cultivated while small. Protect from rabbits with a dog and gun, and also by wrapping the trees. Prune very little; simply keep down sprouts and remove crossed limbs. Have never thinned on the tree, and believe barn-yard litter useful as a fertilizer. I pasture with a few calves, but think it does not pay. Am troubled with some insect, and spray moderately in May with London purple, for web-worm and leaf-crumpler. Pick from the wagon, driving under the trees. Sell at both wholesale and retail, and my best market is the commercial buyer. Feed my culls mostly to the pigs. Never have dried any, nor stored any for winter. Have a pipe running from my water-tank, by which means have watered a few trees for a number of years, and these trees are very large and yield very fine fruit. If I were to start again, instead of planting 500 apple trees I would plant sixty, and dig a well and put a windmill in the midst of them; and I am confident I would get more satisfactory returns.
J. A. MULLINEAUX, Cherryvale, Montgomery county: I have been in Kansas twenty-nine years. Have 350 apple trees of various ages and sizes, mainly Ben Davis and Missouri Pippin. Have tried and discarded the Romanite as too small. I prefer bottom or second-bottom land, red soil, with sandy subsoil, and a south slope. I plant two-year-old trees in the spring, 32×32 feet; cultivate for four years, growing oats as a crop; also grow oats in a bearing orchard. Believe windbreaks or an Osage-orange hedge are beneficial. I tie corn-stalks around my trees to keep off the rabbits. I never prune at all. Do not thin fruit on the trees. I fertilize with stable litter while trees are young. Believe it pays to pasture orchards with hogs, as they destroy worms. I am troubled some with borers, web-worms, and codling-moth, but have never practiced spraying. I pick by hand, and sort into first and second classes, and pack in bushel boxes, selling at wholesale; haul to market on a rack; make my culls into cider. My best market is Cherryvale. Never have dried any. Do not irrigate. I store for winter in bulk in the cellar, and am successful in keeping Missouri Pippin and Ben Davis. Price here is $1.50 per bushel.