O. M. RECORD, Thayer, Neosho county: Have lived in Kansas twenty-one years; have 400 apple trees eight years old. My land is eastern slope, clay subsoil; I plant 20×28, first subsoiling the row. Cultivate to corn and potatoes with a plow, common cultivator, and five-tooth cultivator, until eight years old; then sow to clover. I believe a windbreak is essential, and like Russian mulberry planted on the south and west. To protect from rabbits and borers I use a wash made of soap, lime, and crude coal-oil. I prune with the shears to balance the top properly, and think it pays. I think varieties that grow in clusters like Rawle's Janet should be thinned to a single specimen. I use stable litter, as my land is a light, sandy loam and needs it. I pasture my orchard with hogs, but not too many; if they run short of feed they will sometimes bark the trees. I am troubled some with canker-worm, tent-caterpillar, leaf-roller, and codling-moth. I spray as soon as the bloom is off and twice afterwards with lime and crude oil, to kill the leaf eaters and fungus, and have probably reduced the codling-moth. I look for borers in the fall and dig them out with a knife. My orchard is yet too young to describe picking, sorting, etc. I intend to build a pond and try wetting the ground when the trees need it.
CHAS. DIEMURT, Murdock, Butler county: I have been in Kansas thirty years; have 400 apple trees eight years old. I have Ben Davis, Winesap, Missouri Pippin, Dominie, Grimes's Golden Pippen, Rome Beauty, Rambo, Early Harvest, Bellflower, Rawle's Janet, Willow Twig, Red June, Maiden's Blush, and Duchess of Oldenburg. I prefer hilltop, with sandy soil, and a red, sandy subsoil, with western slope. I plant two-year-old, low, stocky trees, two rods apart each way. I cultivate with plow and cultivator. I whitewash with lime and blood to keep the rabbits off, and lime to keep off borers and other insects. I prune, taking off only surplus limbs, and think it beneficial. I never thin apples. I fertilize to improve the tree; I think it advisable. Am troubled with canker-worm, leaf-crumplers, and codling-moth. I spray when the leaves are just out with London purple for canker-worm, and think I have reduced the codling-moth. For insects that are not affected by spraying, I wash the trees with lime during the fall, and in the spring with strong soap suds. I pick my apples by hand, and sort into two classes--best for eating, second for cider. For packing I prefer boxes made of slats [lath?], two feet wide by four feet long, and one foot deep. I sell some in the orchard, make cider of the culls, and store some in boxes, and am successful. I find the Missouri Pippin and Winesap keep best. Prices have been from fifty cents to one dollar per bushel.