J. H. BATEMAN, Holton, Jackson county: Have lived in Kansas forty years. Have 900 apple trees; 200 have been planted twenty-five years, 700 have been planted four years. Have made more money out of Ben Davis than any other. For family use my choice is White Winter Pearmain and Rawle's Janet. I have tried and discarded Dominie and Winesap. I prefer hilltop, with northeast slope, and a deep, friable soil; hard clay is not good. I would plant two- or three-year-olds, in a deep furrow, preferably subsoiled. Would cultivate as long as it don't cut the roots, with a two-horse cultivator, and would grow corn four or five years, then seed to clover. I believe windbreaks are very beneficial; would make them of walnut or maple. Osage orange is fairly good; all may be raised from young trees or seed. I wrap young trees in the fall with paper to protect from rabbits. I prune with the knife to prevent friction. Never tried thinning on the trees; believe it would be beneficial. Fertilizers make the trees thriftier, but cause the roots to run nearer the surface; consequently the trees suffer more in drought. I have pastured to a limited extent with calves and horses; hogs injure the trees. The worst insects I have are the flat-headed borer, which I cut out, and the curculio. Have never sprayed, but think I will. We pick from a ladder into pails or baskets and sort into two classes; we pick the best from the trees, and shake the others to the ground. I sometimes sell in the orchard; I wholesale when I can, but sell more to the buyers at the railroad station. I make some cider, and feed the balance of the culls to hogs. Our best markets are the apple buyers at Holton. Have never shipped any or dried any. I store only for home use, in boxes in my cellar, and find that Rawle's Janet and Romanite are the best keepers. I use farm hands at from seventeen dollars to twenty dollars per month. * * * * *