Chapter 14

Canker-worm is my worst insect pest, and I have been spraying for many years, using one pound of London purple to 160 gallons of water. I spray when the blossoms fall, using a big tank and a small engine to pump. I cannot say that I have reduced the codling-moth any by spraying. I cut borers out. I sort into two classes, No. 1's and No. 2's, bests and second bests; best ones go into firsts, and those that are not rotten in No. 2. I have a table, or what I call a culler; the apples are picked and put into these cullers; I have twelve men to each culler and a boss over them. They stand and cull the apples. I have the cullers numbered, so if any one puts up bad apples I can catch him. I use barrels for the No. 1's; fill and press so they will not shake. I put them up in good shape, and sell at wholesale to the first buyer that comes. I ship my culls and second-grade apples to western Kansas and to Nebraska in cars in bulk. I never send to commission men. I have never tried drying, or storing apples for winter. For family use I put away some in barrels, and keep the above varieties successfully. Prices, last year, two dollars per barrel; a year ago, one dollar per barrel; two years ago, $1.50 per barrel. I use any help I can get, paying seventy five cents per day and board.

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J. B. AVERY, Clifton, Washington county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-eight years; have an apple orchard of 1500 trees, from five to fourteen years planted, three to fifteen inches in diameter. For planting I prefer two-year-old whips. I cultivate my orchard to potatoes or any hoed crop, when it is first planted; keep this up as long as the roots and branches will admit. I have used a disc and common drag harrow for the last three years. I plant my bearing orchard to clover. I prune my trees with a pruning knife and saw when necessary. I fertilize my orchard with thoroughly rotted stable litter. I think it beneficial and would advise its use on all soils. I have pastured eight acres of my orchard with calves; have not seen any injury. I sort my apples into three classes--first, second, and culls. I sell my apples to neighbors, restaurants, stores, etc. The culls I dry, make cider, feed to pigs, and give away. Clifton is my best market; have never tried distant markets. I store some in boxes, barrels and sacks in a cellar.

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T. S. ANDERSON, Oneida, Nemaha county: Have been in Kansas twenty-seven years; have an orchard of 1000 trees fifteen years old, ten to eighteen inches in diameter. Prefer for market Ben Davis and Winesap; for family use, many kinds. Have discarded Rawle's Janet, Early Pennock, Bellflower, and Russets. I prefer limestone soil; bottom land with northern slope. I plant two-year-old, straight-bodied, thrifty looking, live trees. I cultivate in corn, with riding plow, for six years, and then seed to grass. I believe a windbreak is essential, and would make it of Osage orange, maple, or cottonwood. I prevent rabbits and borers by painting with ashes and lime. I prune with saw and knife to make larger apples, and give them better color, and think it pays. I do not thin, and would put fertilizer from the barn-yard on the land. I pasture my orchard with cattle and hogs, but do not think it advisable. I am troubled some with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, root aphis, borers, codling-moth, and curculio, but do not spray. I gather only the best by hand, and put them immediately in a bin in the cellar. I sell to stores, use plenty at home, make cider, and feed the hogs on culls. My best market is Seneca, Kan. Have never tried drying apples. I store for winter on shallow shelves, six inches deep and two feet wide, in a dry cellar, and keep them successfully; Ben Davis and Winesap keep the best. Prices have ranged from twenty-five to seventy-five cents per bushel. I use common laborers, and pay from one to two dollars per day.

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HOWARD MORTON, Tescott, Ottawa county: I have lived in Kansas thirty-two years; I have twenty old apple trees and 400 set two years ago. I prefer Ben Davis, Gano and York Imperial for market, and Maiden's Blush, Early Harvest and Winesap for family use. My orchard is in a bottom with a north slope. I plant two-year-olds with a fair amount of large roots, in furrows made with a lister, and enlarged with a spade where necessary. I cultivate with a disc harrow as long as possible, and grow nothing on the ground among the trees. I believe windbreaks are essential, and would make them by planting Osage orange, Russian mulberry and box-elders in rows six feet apart. I do not prune much; only thin out inside shoots to prevent contact. I believe it pays to thin the fruit some when the apples are perhaps half grown. I use no fertilizers. I do not pasture my orchard. I spray a little before the buds swell, after the blossoms fall, and two weeks later, with Bordeaux mixture, to prevent wormy apples. I dig out borers with a jack-knife and a small wire.

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I. N. MACY, Longford, Clay county: Have lived in Kansas fifteen years; have 150 apple trees nine years old, from fifteen to eighteen feet high. For family orchard prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, and Jonathan. I prefer bottom land. I plant two-year-old trees. I cultivate in corn for the shade as long as there is room, using the plow, cultivator, and harrow, and cease cropping when trees shade the ground. Windbreaks are beneficial on the south. I prune to balance the top and prevent the limbs from chafing; I think it beneficial. I never thin apples. I fertilize my orchard with barn-yard litter, keeping my ground as rich as a garden, and would advise its use on all soils. I never pasture my orchard; it is sure death to it; allow nothing larger than chickens in it. I spray only for canker-worms, using Paris green and lime, when in bloom; am successful. I do not irrigate.

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A. C. GRIESA, Lawrence, Douglas county: I have lived in Kansas thirty years. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Gano, Jonathan, and Missouri Pippin, and, for a family orchard, the leading medium early and late sorts. I prefer upland or second bottom with a clay subsoil; all slopes, if well drained, are good, excepting south. I prefer good two-year-old trees, set in land laid off with a plow. I plant my orchard to corn for four years and use an eight-tooth cultivator; cease cropping when the trees are four or six inches in diameter; plant clover in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are not essential in this locality. For rabbits I wrap the trees, and dig the borers out. I prune when the trees are young to thin the top; I think it beneficial and that it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees, but would advise doing so when the fruit is one-third grown. I fertilize my orchard with barn-yard litter, and would advise its use, especially on uplands. I do not pasture my orchard; do not think it advisable; it does not pay. My trees are troubled with canker-worm, root aphis, flathead and roundhead borers, and woolly aphis; and my apples with codling-moth. I do not spray, but would advise it. I am sure it would reduce the codling-moth. I hand-pick my apples in a sack over the shoulder.

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A. G. AXELTON, Randolph, Riley county: I have lived in Kansas forty years; have an apple orchard of 300 trees eighteen years old, sixteen feet high. For a family orchard I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, Winesap, and Maiden's Blush. I prefer black bottom land with a clay subsoil, and a northern slope. For planting I prefer two-year-old, straight, smooth trees. I cultivate my orchard till the trees begin to bear, with a cultivator and hogs, planting nothing. Windbreaks are not essential. For rabbits I wrap the trees with paper. I do not prune my trees, nor thin the fruit while on the trees. I do not fertilize. I pasture my orchard with hogs at certain times in the spring when worthless apples are dropping. My trees are troubled with canker-worm and tent-caterpillar. I do not spray. I pick my apples by hand and carry them to the cellar. I do not store any apples for winter market.

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C. H. TAYLOR, Eskridge, Wabaunsee county: Have lived in Kansas thirty-eight years. Have 1400 apple trees, five to fifteen years old, six to twelve inches in diameter. For market I grow Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Jonathan; for family orchard I would advise Winesap, Rawle's Janet, Cooper's Early White, Maiden's Blush, and Jonathan; and I would discard nearly all others. I prefer bottom land, with black loam and open subsoil, north slope. Would plant one- or two-year-old, low-top trees, twenty-five feet apart each way. I have grown root grafts with success. I shall cultivate as long as the trees live, growing corn among them until the growth of the trees prevents it. I believe all the windbreak necessary is an ordinary fence. I use traps for the rabbits and a knife for the borers. I thin the fruit on the trees in the early summer, after they are well set. I believe barn-yard fertilizer beneficial to any orchard. I pasture my orchard with hogs, and think it advisable, and that it pays. I have some insects, but do not spray; I burn some. I pick by hand in half-bushel baskets; sort into two classes, market and cider; pack into barrels, and usually sell in the orchard at wholesale. Never shipped to a distant market. Do not dry any. Have stored some for winter in the cellar in bulk, and find that the Missouri Pippin, Winesap and Rawle's Janet keep the best. I do not irrigate. Price averages about twenty-five cents per bushel. I use ordinary farm hands at fifteen to twenty dollars per month.

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FRANK SEIFERT, Strawberry, Washington county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-eight years; have an apple orchard of 150 trees, from three to twenty years planted. For commercial purposes I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Winesap, and for family orchard would add Maiden's Blush. Have tried and discarded Willow Twig on account of blight. I prefer limestone upland with an eastern aspect. I prefer three-year-old trees for planting. I cultivate my orchard for eight or ten years with a plow and harrow. I seed bearing orchard to red clover. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of one row of box-elder and two rows of plums. I fertilize my orchard with straw and hay, and think it advisable, on all soils. I never pasture my orchard; it is not advisable. I do not spray. I pick my apples the old way. [?] Sell my apples in the orchard. I sometimes store for winter in bulk in an arched cellar, and am successful. I find the Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin and Winesap keep equally well. Prices have been from fifty to seventy-five cents per bushel.

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J. T. TRAVIS, Aurora, Cloud county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-six years; have an apple orchard of seventy-five trees from five to twenty years old. I prefer low land, black loam soil with clay subsoil, and a northern slope. I prefer two-year-old trees, straight, with no forks, the limbs low down, planted in furrows made by a plow. I cultivate my orchard as long as I can get through it, with potatoes and sweet corn, using a harrow often enough to keep weeds down and ground smooth. Cease cropping when the trees get too large for sweet corn to do any good. Windbreaks are essential; would make them of Russian mulberry, planted in two or three rows, eight to ten feet apart, on all sides of the orchard. I prune little, only enough to thin out the tops and keep limbs from rubbing each other, and to give light. I fertilize my old orchard with any kind of coarse stable litter; I pile it in heaps between the trees and let it lay until it rots. I pasture my orchard with hogs when it grows to wild rye and is too large for me to plow; I think it advisable only when the trees get foul; it pays if not pastured with too many and they are not kept on too long. My trees are troubled with leaf-roller, and my apples with codling-moth. I have sprayed, but only to a limited extent.

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SAM KIMBLE, Manhattan, Riley county: Have been in Kansas thirty-eight years. Have an orchard of 2500 trees not yet in bearing. They have been planted three, four and five years. I have set out for market Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Winesap, and for family use about thirty kinds, in variety. I am located on upland, with clay subsoil, mainly northwest slope. I planted three-year-old trees, stocky and low headed, in holes twenty-five by thirty feet apart, getting on my knees to work the soil in about the roots. I crop to corn, cultivating well, and shall keep this up as long as three rows can be fairly grown 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.

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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 Leavenworth; have never shipped any away. Have never dried any, and do not store any for winter. Prices have ranged from 50 cents to $1.75 per barrel. I use men only, and pay $1.50 per day.

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D. N. BARNS, Leavenworth, Leavenworth county: I have lived in Kansas thirty-seven years; have 2000 apple trees twenty years old. The best for commercial purposes is New York Pippin [Ben Davis]. For family orchard I prefer Jonathan, Winesap, Minkler, Huntsman's Favorite, and Lowell. I have tried and discarded Nonesuch. I prefer bottom land, with black loam soil and clay subsoil, with south slope, in my locality. I plant good, stout, thrifty trees, two to three years old, sixteen and one-half by thirty-three feet apart. I cultivate until the trees are large enough to shade the ground. In the young orchard, for the first seven or eight years, I usually grow corn, wheat, or oats; in a bearing orchard I grow orchard-grass and timothy and clover, separate or together. I have not yet ceased cropping. I believe windbreaks are essential, made of hills, trees, or hedge fence. For this purpose I would advise to first find the hills; then plant the orchard and trees or hedge. I dig out the borers, and trap or shoot the rabbits. I believe it pays to prune some to get rid of surplus wood. I believe it pays to thin apples and I do it in July. I fertilize by pasturing with cows, and believe it pays. Am troubled with some insects, but have never sprayed. We pick from a ladder, each man carrying two baskets; we sort into two classes on a table. In the first class we put apples not damaged too much and large enough, and in the other we place the small ones.

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J. F. RUHLIN, Wetmore, Nemaha county: Has been in Kansas seventeen years. Owns an apple orchard of 1150 trees, set out from one to three years. Set Ben Davis, Jonathan, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, and for family orchard would add the Maiden's Blush, Rambo, Rome Beauty, and Grimes's Golden Pippin. Has discarded Early Harvest, Red June, and Red Astrachan. Wants upland always, north or northeast slope if possible, and a loose, friable soil, with gravelly subsoil. On planting, he says he uses two-year-old, short, stocky trees with bushy tops and lots of roots, which he prunes back at setting. Sets trees deeper than they grew at the nursery, 20x30 feet. Puts a barrel half full of soil and water on a sled, and puts ten to twenty trees into it at a time; takes out a tree and sets it with as little exposure of roots to the air as possible. Cultivates well, keeping the ground clean in the tree row all summer. This winter, 1897-'98, he saw fine ten-year-old trees completely girdled by mice, in an orchard that was neglected last summer, and weeds and grass allowed to grow next the trees; these held the snow around the trees, and allowed the mice to burrow under to the tree. Grows corn as a protection to the trees in summer, using a five-tooth one-horse cultivator, shallow and often, near the trees, until they begin to bear, when he sows to clover, and mows frequently. Thinks windbreaks are essential, and if used would make them of Osage orange or mulberry, not very close to trees on north and west sides. Protects from rabbits by wrapping with corn-stalks and will try leaving them on this summer as a protection from sun-scald. Prunes interlocking limbs to get into shape; believes it beneficial. Believes thinning would pay on choice varieties if tree was very full. Believes in using all the barn-yard litter possible, especially on poor soil. Never has pastured orchard, but might put in horses or sheep. Thinks it would hardly pay. Never has sprayed, but believes in it. Digs out borers. Prefers to wholesale fruit in orchard.

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JOSEPH C. REA, Brenner, Doniphan county: Have been in Kansas twenty-seven years. Have 4000 trees six to twelve years old. I prefer for commercial orchard Ben Davis and Missouri Pippin; add, for family orchard, Minkler. Discarded Lawver because it did not bear. I prefer side-hill, clay loam, with a north slope. Prefer trees without forks, and plant a little deeper than in the nursery. I cultivate with the plow and cultivator until they begin to bear. I plant a young orchard to corn, a bearing orchard to clover, and cease cropping when they begin to bear. Windbreaks are not essential. I wrap my trees with corn-stalks to protect from rabbits. I prune to improve the fruit, and think it beneficial. Never dry apples. Think that if Jonathans are planted near other trees they are better, bigger, and fuller. Winesap and Chenango Strawberry are varieties adjoining mine. Do not fertilize; would not advise its use. Do not pasture orchard; not advisable. My trees are troubled with buffalo tree-hopper. I dig borers out. I pick by hand and sort from a table. I sort into three classes--first, the fairest and reddest; second, smaller and paler; third, rough and poor. I prefer three-bushel barrels to pack in; fill as full as possible, and mark with my name. I sell in orchard, also wholesale. Leave culls on ground. My best market is home; the buyers come and get them. I store in barrels, and find that Minkler and Mammoth Black Twig keep best. I got $1000 for 805 barrels last year. I employ young men and boys, and pay $1.25 to $1.50 per day.

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ELI HOFFMAN, Donegal, Dickinson county: Have been in Kansas nineteen years. Have 500 apple trees, nine years planted, made up of 150 Ben Davis, 150 Missouri Pippin, 75 Winesap, and 125 of summer and fall varieties. I prefer bottom land; don't want hilltop, unless level; don't want any slope; would subsoil the year before planting, then plant twenty-four feet apart each way the following year. Grow corn or potatoes the first four years, and after that, nothing. Cultivate up to nine years old; the disc and corn cultivator are good the first years; I keep it as clean as a California orange grove; cease cropping after four years. I think windbreaks are necessary, and would make them of a double row of mulberries eight feet apart. For rabbits I put wire screen around the trees. I use the pruning-knife and saw to give air. I would not pasture an orchard. Have not sprayed, but intend to, with London purple.

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E. M. GLASPEY, Nortonville, Jefferson county: Have lived in Kansas fourteen years. Have 700 apple trees from twenty to twenty-five years old. Prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin and Winesap for market; and Winesap, Golden Sweet and Early Harvest for family use. I prefer bottom land with a north aspect, soil suitable for wheat is good for apples; would turn in cattle after the crop is gathered, and think it pays. When the bloom falls I spray with London purple. I pick in half-bushel baskets and place in large piles in the orchard. I sort into three grades; No. 1 is best, which I generally sell to shippers; No. 2 next, which I sell in the city to families or to dealers; the culls I peddle out, and also make into cider. My best market is Atchison. I shipped once to a commission house in Topeka, but it did not pay. I never dry any; sometimes I store for winter in bulk in the cellar, and find that Missouri Pippin and Willow Twig keep the best. I employ men and boys at seventy-five cents to one dollar per day.

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