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C. D. GAISER, Lansing, Leavenworth county: Have lived in Kansas forty
years. Have 5000 trees eight years old, of Gano, Ben Davis, Jonathan,
and Huntsman's Favorite; I grow no others. My location is hilltop, with
good, rich soil, and a clay subsoil; slope makes no difference. I plant
two- and three-year-old trees, 15x30 feet, and cultivate to corn for
seven or eight years, and then sow to clover and timothy. I never prune,
thin, or fertilize; and allow no stock in the orchard. I do not spray,
but dig the flat-headed borer out with a knife. I use ladders, and
gather in baskets and pour into a wagon, and sort in unloading; I make
only two classes, culls and good apples. I ship my best apples to
different points in barrels, and it pays; my culls I make into cider.
Have never tried drying apples. I store some for winter in bulk, and
keep them successfully. I use men and boys for help. I sell for $1.25 to
$1.50 per barrel.

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W. H. ROBINSON, Dunlap, Morris county: Has lived in Kansas thirty years;
has 1000 apple trees, planted from two to nineteen years. Prefers Ben
Davis, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, Grimes's Golden Pippin and Jonathan for
commercial purposes, and Early Harvest, Grimes's Golden Pippin, Duchess
of Oldenburg and Cooper's Early White for family use. Has turned down
Rawle's Janet, as they rot on the trees. All on best bottom land, clay
subsoil. Plants two-year-old trees thirty-five feet apart each way, with
nothing [?] between. Plants to corn, and cultivates well up to twelve
years. Is protected on the southwest by a belt of timber. Keeps rabbits
off by wrapping with corn-stalks. Prunes to make the tree healthier and
apples finer; says it pays. Plants varieties in alternate rows, but does
not say why. Uses all the stable litter he can get. Pastures with cows
after gathering; says they eat the culls and wormy fruit, and it pays.
He advises others to try it. Sprays with London purple before blooming,
after blooming, and ten days later for tent-caterpillar and
codling-moth, and believes he has reduced both of them. Has no
borers--thinks "a stitch in time saves nine." Picks and sorts into two
classes, first and second. Always sells in the orchard to western apple
haulers. Lets the cows have all culls he does not use for cider. Price
in orchard for picked apples, forty to fifty cents per bushel.

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J. H. TAYLOR, Rhinehart, Dickinson