sacks from ladders. The shipper [buyer] sorts from
barrels in orchard. I sell my first grade in the orchard; also second-
and third-grade apples in the orchard. We sell the culls. Do not dry
any; does not pay. I store very few. Average price of apples is fifty
cents per bushel.

* * * * *

W. M. FRENCH, Chicopee, Crawford county: I have resided in the state
eighteen years. Have an apple orchard of 200 trees twelve years old,
averaging six inches in diameter. For market I prefer Ben Davis,
Winesap, Missouri Pippin, Willow Twig, and Jonathan; and for family
orchard would add Early Harvest, Maiden's Blush, and Rambo. Have tried
and discarded Limber Twig; it does not mature. I prefer bottom with an
eastern or northern slope, having a good deep soil with a clay subsoil.
I prefer three-year-old, stocky trees, set in holes dug 3x3 feet and
2-1/2 feet deep, filled with surface soil. I cultivate my orchard to
corn as long as I can without injuring the trees, and use a plow; avoid
ridging too much. I cease cropping after nine to twelve years. I sow the
bearing orchard to millet or something to be mowed. Windbreaks are not
essential, but think they would be beneficial; would make them of
catalpa or maples, set in two or three rows on north, south and west
sides. I prune my trees with a saw to keep the top from getting too
heavy; I think it beneficial, and that it pays. Shall not thin my fruit
this year. I can see no difference whether trees are in blocks of one
kind or mixed. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter, putting it in
trenches between the trees; I avoid putting it around them. I think it
has proven beneficial, and would advise its use on all soils, unless
very rich and the tree growth very strong. I pasture my orchard a little
with calves, but do not think it advisable. My trees are troubled with
tent-caterpillar. I do not spray. I hand-pick in a basket from a
step-ladder. I sort into two classes, and wholesale, retail, and peddle.
The home market takes all my best apples; the culls are fed to hogs and
made into cider. Never have tried distant markets. Do not dry any. Am
successful at storing apples in bulk in a cellar; find Ben Davis,
Winesap, Willow Twig and Rawle's Janet keep best. I do not irrigate.
Prices have been from fifty cents to one dollar per bushel.

* * * * *

J. C. ROSS, Havana, Montgomery county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-seven
years;