re; it is
good on all kinds of soil. Never pasture the orchard. We have some
leaf-roller, fall web-worm, and codling-moth, but have never sprayed
any. We dig borers out with a wire. We pick by hand, and sort into three
grades: numbers 1 and 2, and cider stock. We never sell in the orchard,
but retail our best in one-bushel crates. Our culls we feed out to farm
stock early. Our best market is at home and west; never tried distant
markets. Have never tried drying or storing for winter. Do not irrigate,
but cultivate often. Prices range from 60 cents to $1.25 per bushel. We
use some farm help at fifteen to eighteen dollars per month.

* * * * *

W. J. BRUMAGE, Beloit, Mitchell county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-four
years; have an orchard of 1000 very large apple trees, from twelve to
twenty years old. For commercial purposes would prefer Ben Davis,
Winesap, Missouri Pippin, Duchess of Oldenburg, Early Harvest, Red June,
Willow Twig, Maiden's Blush, Cooper's Early White, and Pewaukee, and for
family orchard Ben Davis, Winesap, Early Harvest, Maiden's Blush, and
Duchess of Oldenburg. I prefer hilltop, clay loam, with northeast slope.
I plow a ditch and set two-year-old trees a little deeper than they were
in the nursery. Have tried root-grafts and seedlings; were no good. I
cultivate with garden-truck until twelve or fourteen years old, using a
plow to stir the ground, and seed bearing orchard to grass. I use no
windbreaks. I prune to keep the tree from getting bushy; I think it
beneficial. I never thin my fruit. Cannot see any difference in trees
whether planted in blocks or mixed up. Use no fertilizer, and would not
advise its use. Do not pasture orchard; do not think it advisable. My
trees are troubled with canker-worm, flathead borers, twig-borer, and
leaf roller. Codling-moth and curculio trouble my fruit. I spray with
London purple, using a pump, just after the blossom falls, for the
codling-moth, and think I have reduced them. I pick my fruit by hand,
and pack in barrels. I sort into two classes, good and bad. Have sold
them in the orchard; sometimes retail; my best market is home; have
never tried distant markets. I make vinegar of the culls. Never dry any.
Store some for winter market in bulk in a cave; am successful; Winesap,
Willow Twig and Ben Davis keep the best. Have never tried artificial
cold storage. Have to repack stored apples before marketing; we lose
about one-fourth. Do