THEODORE OLSEN, Green, Clay county: I have lived in Kansas thirty years. Have an apple orchard of 200 trees, fifteen feet high, eighteen years old. I prefer for commercial purposes Ben Davis and Winesap, on second bottom, black soil, with a northeast slope. I plant three-year-old trees, not very deep, and cultivate my orchard to corn, using a cultivator run very shallow every year, and cease cropping when they begin to bear; then plant nothing. Windbreaks are essential here; I have trees planted around my orchard. I protect from rabbits by wrapping the trees with corn-stalks. I never prune, and do not thin the fruit on the trees. I fertilize my orchard with straw, and would advise its use on all soils. I do not pasture my orchard. My trees are troubled with flathead borers and leaf-crumplers, and my apples by gouger. I spray with Paris green in June; have not reduced the codling-moth. Pick my apples; sort into two classes, pack in bushel boxes, sell in the orchard, also retail; I make cider of culls. My best market is Green. I never dry any. I store some in boxes in a cellar, and am fairly successful; I find Ben Davis keeps best. We have to repack stored apples before marketing, losing about ten per cent. Do not irrigate. Prices have been from twenty-five cents to one dollar per bushel.
HARRY L. BROWN, Muscotah, Atchison county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-two years. Have an apple orchard of 150 trees, ten to twenty-five years old. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, Jonathan, Missouri Pippin, and Grimes's Golden Pippin; and for family orchard Maiden's Blush, Early Harvest, Red June, Smith's Cider, and Rambo. I prefer hilltop, with a deep, sandy loam, and a gravel subsoil, northeast slope. I prefer two-year-old, straight, thrifty trees, carefully set, 30×35 feet. I plant my orchard to corn, potatoes, beans and garden-truck for ten or twelve years, using a one-horse cultivator between the rows and around the trees, and cease cropping after twelve or fifteen years; plant strawberries or small fruits in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of two rows of evergreens planted around the orchard. I trap the rabbits, and wash and cut out the borers. I prune to thin and keep the tree in shape; think it beneficial, and that it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. My trees are in mixed plantings. I fertilize my orchard with horse- and cow-stable litter; think it beneficial, and would advise its use on all soils, unless very rich. I pasture my orchard with nothing but chickens; it is not advisable; does not pay. My trees are troubled with flathead and twig-borers, leaf-rollers and crumplers; and my apples with codling-moth and curculio. I do not spray. I pick my apples from ladders into baskets and sacks, and sort, as I gather them, into three classes: perfectly sound, second best, and culls. I pack in baskets and boxes. I retail and peddle my apples; feed the culls to stock. My best markets are near-by towns; never tried distant markets. We sun-dry some, and pack in sacks and boxes; we find a ready market for them; it pays. Am successful in storing apples for home use in boxes and bins in a cellar, and find Ben Davis, Winesap, Rawle's Janet and Smith's Cider keep the best. I have to repack stored apples before marketing. Do not irrigate. Prices have been from forty to fifty cents per bushel, and dried apples five cents per pound. I pay men eighteen to twenty dollars per month, or one dollar per day.