e it. I doubt if it pays. My trees are troubled with
borers, and my apples with codling-moth. I do not spray. Pick my apples
by hand into sacks. I sort into three classes--first, second, and
culls--into baskets from the ground. I sell apples in the orchard at
wholesale. I market my best apples in barrels; sell second and third
grades to vinegar and cider-mills. My best market is at home. Never
tried distant markets. Do not dry any. I store some apples in bulk in a
cellar, and am successful. Ben Davis and Missouri Pippin keep best.
Prices have been seventy-five cents to $1.50 per barrel. I employ men
and boys at one dollar per day.
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WM. GURWELL, Fanning, Doniphan county: I have lived in Kansas
thirty-five years; have 5000 apple trees, planted from two to thirty
years. For commercial orchard I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, Jonathan,
White Winter Pearmain, and Rawle's Janet; and would add for family use
Early Harvest and Dominie. Have tried and discarded Yellow Bellflower;
not prolific in this climate. I prefer hill with black loam and clay
subsoil; any slope but southwest is good. I prefer two-year-old trees,
and set them in holes dug two and half to three feet square with a
spade, and set the trees two or three inches deeper than they stood in
the nursery. Have tried home-grown root grafts, and was successful. I
cultivate to corn, potatoes, pumpkins, and melons, using plow and
harrow. I crop a bearing orchard lightly, and cease when in full
bearing. I kill the rabbits. I prune with saw, knife, and clippers, and
think it beneficial. I seldom thin fruit on the trees. My trees are
planted in blocks. I fertilize the land near the trees with stable
litter; I would advise its use on thin soil. I pasture my orchard with
calves and hogs, and think it advisable; it pays in some orchards. Trees
are troubled with borers; I hunt the borers with a wire. We pick
carefully in large baskets and sacks from a step-ladder; I pack in
barrels. My best market is northwest of here; I sometimes sell in the
orchard at wholesale, retail, and peddle; dry and make cider of the
culls; never dry for market. I sometimes store a few apples, and find
the Winesap, White Winter Pearmain and Rawle's Janet keep the best. We
have to repack stored apples before marketing them. Do not irrigate.
Prices have been from 60 cents to $1.25 per barrel. I employ all kinds
of help, and pay one dollar per day.
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