I never dry any for market. I store some apples for winter market in bulk; am not very successful; find Winesap keeps the best. Have to repack stored apples before marketing; lose about ten per cent. I do not irrigate. Prices have been from twenty-five cents to one dollar per bushel; dried apples, four and one-half cents per pound. I employ young men, at from seventy-five cents to one dollar per day. I have sprayed carefully for three years, and am glad to report no worms this year [1898]. Winesap not full--too full and dry last year, Maiden's Blush full, Rawle's Janet very full, Sweet Bough full, Limber Twig full, Milam full, Ben Davis fair, Northern Spy fair, Little Romanite light, Jonathan light, Willow Twig and King (of Tompkins county) full, Talman Sweet full, and Pound Sweet full.
Trees must not be trimmed up too high, as is too much the practice. A low, broad top will hold the least sprinkle of rain longer, and the wind will not have much chance to dry the earth under the trees. There are millions of hair roots just at the surface, in the compost, or loose earth, to immediately absorb the moisture if wind and sun are kept off. The buds set better when the trunks are short, and kept as cool as possible, so that the sap can run freely to the terminal buds, and also make buds, when, if high and dry, no bud formation can occur. Trees should be short in trunk, broad top, and limbs nearly to the ground. No hogs nor calves should be allowed in the orchard, but all the chickens possible. Cut off all dead branches, and fill up vacancies. Trees should be two or three years old when set. When setting make a good large hole, and in the center make a hill or cone of earth. Then spread the roots out in their natural position, and after this fill in some earth and press lightly. Set two or three inches deeper than they grew in the nursery, trim close, and leave no acute forks. Compel the limbs to start at obtuse or right angles from the trunk; if they bend over to the north, anchor with string and stake. The art and science of horticulture are little studied in Kansas. It takes good judgment and a scientific turn of mind to be successful in orcharding. Chemistry, botany and physiology are especially necessary to make it a delightful work in life. We must run back to the original, which was no doubt far beyond anything we as yet have, or we could not improve at all. The beauty ran down as man did, and it will be a long time before perfection is reached.