year, to train the tree to grace, beauty, and profit. I never tried
thinning fruit. Would fertilize with a little stable litter spread over
the ground. Never would pasture an orchard. Had some canker-worm and
curculio, but never tried spraying. I pick from a step-ladder into a
shoulder sack.

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V. E. HATHAWAY, Council Grove, Morris county: Have lived in Kansas
thirty years; have an orchard of 1000 trees two to twelve inches in
diameter. Have tried and discarded Willow Twig and Smith's Cider on
account of blight. I prefer a gravel or clay bottom with northern slope.
I prefer healthy trees set forty by twenty feet. I cultivate my orchard
to corn until too large, plowing very shallow. Windbreaks are
beneficial; would make them of cedar. I prune by cutting out the inner
limbs that rub; I think it pays. I do not thin the fruit on the trees. I
sometimes fertilize with stable litter; would advise its use on all
soils. I do not pasture my orchard; do not think it advisable. My trees
are troubled with canker-worm, and my fruit by codling-moth. I spray
just after the blooms fall with London purple, and think I have reduced
the codling-moth. I dig out insects not affected by spraying. I pick my
fruit from inside of tree from a ladder. Sort into three classes. Pack
in apple barrels, pressed down, and marked with the quality; then
transport to market on a wagon. I wholesale, retail, and peddle;
sometimes sell in the orchard. Feed the culls to hogs. My best market is
at home; never tried distant markets. Do not dry any. I store apples in
boxes or barrels, and am successful. I find Missouri Pippin, Winesap and
Ben Davis keep best. We have to repack stored apples before marketing,
and lose about one-eighth or one-tenth. I do not irrigate. Prices have
been from fifty cents to one dollar per bushel.

* * * * *

S. MARTY, Longford, Clay county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-eight
years; have an apple orchard of 200 trees from seven to fifteen years
old, eight to ten inches in diameter. Have tried and discarded Grimes's
Golden Pippin and Willow Twig. I prefer sandy bottom, loam soil, with a
north or northeast aspect. I prefer two-year-old, low, stocky trees, set
in rows thirty-six feet each way. Have tried root grafts with very good
success. I cultivate my trees eight years; first four to potatoes, using
a disc harrow; plow shallow among young trees; plant nothing in