,
but think none of them paid better than those named. I live on bottom
land, eight feet to water. Any slope is good. Prefer sandy loam. Plant
two-year-old, well-pruned trees, in large holes. Cultivate thoroughly,
planting to corn until seven years old; then seed to alfalfa. I favor
windbreaks of Scotch or Austrian pines, planted in three rows ten feet
apart. I believe in pruning, and always have my knife open when in the
orchard, and trim at all times; like to have trees, not brush piles.
The deity governing Kansas winds thins the fruit sufficiently. Apple
trees are more fruitful if varieties are mixed in planting. Use all the
two- and three-year-old stable litter I can get. Do not pasture my
orchard. Spray with London purple one week before and two weeks after
blooming, for canker-worm, leaf-roller, and codling-moth, and have
reduced the latter by it. I hunt the borers and go after them with a hot
(?) iron. Pick by hand, and sort to suit customers. Pack in eleven-peck
barrels, and mark with stencil. Sell my best apples to shippers, and
make vinegar and hog and cattle feed of culls. My best market is
Colorado, but I sell in orchard. I store successfully for winter in a
cave in bulk, and find Winesap and Missouri Pippin the best keepers,
losing about ten per cent. Prices average fifty cents per bushel. Pay
help from $12.50 per month to 75 cents per day and board.

* * * * *

R. D. OSBORNE, Soldier, Jackson county: Have lived in the state
thirty-one years; have 500 apple trees, from three to sixteen years
planted. For commercial purposes I prefer Ben Davis, York Imperial,
Gano, and Winesap; for family orchard, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and,
for summer, Early Harvest, Maiden's Blush, and Cooper's Early White.
Have tried and discarded Vandevere, as it does not bear, and Willow Twig
on account of blight; Rawle's Janet no good on market. I prefer hilltop
if well cultivated; otherwise bottom, with a loam soil and a sandy
subsoil, and a southeast slope to protect from southwest winds. I plant
two-year-old trees, three feet to head, not less than three limbs to
form head, thirty feet each way. I cultivate with plow, harrow and spade
the square immediately surrounding the tree. I plant corn in the young
orchard and seed the bearing orchard to clover; cease cropping at five
or six years. I think windbreaks essential on southwest, and would plant
Osage orange or Russian mulberry. I wrap with grass o