th eastern slope, and would
plant only two-year-old trees. I have grown both seedlings for stock and
root grafts, in the nursery. I believe in thorough cultivation with
two-horse cultivator and double-shovel plow, using a five-tooth
cultivator near the trees. I crop with corn from seven to nine years,
and then sow to clover. I do not think windbreaks essential. For rabbits
and to prevent borers I use equal parts of carbolic acid and water as a
wash. I prune a little by cutting back on the north side and keeping out
the watersprouts, which I think pays. I think it pays to thin apples by
hand in July and August. I have used some stable litter in the orchard,
and think it pays. I pasture horses in my orchard during winter, but no
stock at any other time. I spray, after blossoms fall, three times, two
weeks apart, with Paris green, for the codling-moth, and my apples are
quite free from worms. I dig out borers and pick off worm nests. I pick
by hand in half-bushel baskets, sell at wholesale, and the buyer sorts
to suit himself. I have never dried or stored any. Prices in 1896 and
1897, seventy-five cents per barrel; spring of 1898, $1.25 to $1.65. I
use laborers at one dollar per day.

* * * * *

ALEX. SPIERS, Linn, Washington county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-eight
years. For commercial orchard I prefer Jonathan, Cooper's Early White,
Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Rawle's Janet, Dominie, Winesap; and for
family orchard Jonathan, Winesap, Cooper's Early White, and Ben Davis.
Have tried and discarded Yellow Bellflower on account of shy bearing. I
prefer rolling upland, black, sandy loam with porous subsoil, and a
southeast slope. I prefer two-year-old trees; have tried root grafts and
seedlings with good success. I cultivate with a diamond plow up to
bearing age. Windbreaks are essential, and I would make them of ash,
box-elder, maple, and elm; I would plant either the young trees or seed.
I prune with a saw, and use a chisel on watersprouts. I think it
beneficial. I thin by shaking the tree when the fruit is small. I
fertilize; think it benefits the trees, by making them grow stronger,
and they fruit better; think it advisable on all soils. I pasture my
orchard with hogs, but would not advise it; does not pay. Flathead borer
and fall web-worm affect my trees. I spray, as soon as the bloom falls,
with London purple. I sometimes sell my apples in the orchard, and
sometimes from the cellar. I st