wn between two rows of
trees. I believe in plowing if you do not get too close to the trees.
When my orchard comes into bearing I shall keep up the cultivation but
grow no crop. I believe windbreaks are very desirable, and should make
them of cottonwood, elms, or any quick-growing forest-trees. To keep off
rabbits I tie on corn-stalks with binder twine. I prune carefully to
shorten the heads and keep down watersprouts, and believe it beneficial.
I believe thinning will pay when the fruit sets too thickly. I believe
in lots of fertilization, and use all the stable litter I can get; I
don't think you can use too much. I believe that young calves might be
pastured to advantage in an old orchard. Have not sprayed any, and
depend on rains for water.

* * * * *

J. B. STARNS, Fairmount, Leavenworth county: Have lived in the state
forty-one years; have 1800 apple trees, extra large, seventeen years
old. Planted for market Ben Davis, Winesap, Jonathan, and Missouri
Pippin; and for early use Early Harvest, Cooper's Early White, Maiden's
Blush, and the Gennettan. Have discarded the Red June as too small and
falling too badly. My ground is black loam upland, sloping north and
east. I planted two-year-old trees in furrows made by the plow, twenty
by thirty-two feet. Would cultivate in corn for five years, using the
breaking-plow and cultivator; then sow to clover. Windbreaks are not
necessary here. I trap the rabbits. For borers I bank around the trees
in May, and take it away in September; this exposes the tree, and the
borers are taken out easily with a knife. I prune some, and think it
pays to take off watersprouts and shape the tree a little. Do not thin,
and do not fertilize. I pasture in the spring and fall, after the apples
are gathered, with pigs; it is an experiment. I have some
tent-caterpillar, twig-borer, and codling-moth. Have never sprayed any.
I pick in sacks and baskets, emptying into bushel boxes, which are
hauled on wagons made for that purpose, to the place for packing. I make
three grades: shippers, seconds, and cider or driers. The boxes are
taken from the wagon and culled, and shippers packed in barrels; the
rest are put in piles, which are afterward culled, and the seconds put
by themselves. We mark barrels with name of variety, and haul to market
on wagons made for the purpose. We often sell at wholesale in the
orchard; we sell the seconds in bulk. My best market is Leavenwort