fertilize my orchard
with well-rotted stable litter. Do not pasture my orchard. Am troubled
with no insect but borers. I spray the trees when leafing out, and once
a week for five or six weeks after that time, to ward off the insects. I
probe for insects not affected by spraying. I do not irrigate. Prices
have been from fifty cents to one dollar per bushel. Dried apples have
been about eight cents per pound.

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M. E. WELLS, Athol, Smith county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-six
years; have an orchard of twelve acres, from five to fourteen years. For
commercial purposes I prefer Ben Davis and Missouri Pippin; and for
family orchard Early Harvest and Winesap. I prefer hilltop of thin clay,
resting on yellow silt, with a northern slope. I prefer two-year-old,
stocky trees planted in dead furrows. I cultivate my orchard to corn as
long as there is space enough between the rows; use two five-tooth
cultivators lashed together, and cease cropping after twelve years.
Windbreaks are not essential. I protect against rabbits and borers by
eternal vigilance in hunting them. I prune by cutting out limbs, so they
will not crowd each other; think it pays. I do not thin the fruit while
on the trees. My trees are in mixed plantings. I do not fertilize my
orchard; I think shallow cultivation is better. I do not pasture my
orchard with anything excepting chickens. Trees are troubled with
tent-caterpillar; some worm affects my apples. I sometimes spray with
lime and copperas, and have not been very successful. Insects not
affected by spraying I dig out with penknife and wire. I pick my apples
by hand from a common ladder; sort into three classes--first, smooth and
free from worms; second, free from worms; the balance in the third
grade. I sell apples in the orchard; also retail them. I handle the best
apples very carefully, one at a time, and place in crates. Keep the
second and third-grade apples at home; feed the culls to hogs. My best
market is in the orchard; never tried distant markets. Never dry any. I
store apples for winter in a cellar on shelves, one layer of fruit on
each shelf--am successful; Ben Davis keeps best. Never tried artificial
cold storage. Do not irrigate. Price has been fifty cents per bushel. I
employ women, because they handle the fruit with more care than men do;
I pay one dollar per day.

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ISAAC CLARK, Oberlin, Decatur county: I