The Apple: The Kansas Apple, the Big Red Apple; the Luscious, Red-Cheeked First Love of the Farmer's Boy; the Healthful, Hearty Heart of the Darling Dumpling. What It Is; How to Grow It; Its Commercial and Economic Importance; How to Utilize It.
Science
The Apple: The Kansas Apple, the Big Red Apple; the Luscious, Red-Cheeked First Love of the Farmer's Boy; the Healthful, Hearty Heart of the Darling Dumpling. What It Is; How to Grow It; Its Commercial and Economic Importance; How to Utilize It.
Apples
M. SANDERS, Broughton, Clay county: I have lived in Kansas thirty-eight
years. Have an apple orchard of 400 trees, three to ten inches in
diameter. For market I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, Grimes's Golden
Pippin, and Red Astrachan; and for family orchard Ben Davis, Winesap,
and Missouri Pippin. I prefer bottom land having a sandy subsoil, and a
southeast slope. I prefer two-year-old, low-headed trees. In the spring
I open deep furrows both ways with a plow, and plant the trees at the
cross, fill the hole with good soil. I cultivate my orchard for six or
eight years, using a common plow till four years old, then use a shovel
plow, and plant early corn, potatoes, etc., in the young orchard; cease
cropping after six or eight years; plant nothing in a bearing orchard,
but keep up shallow cultivating with a disc or plow. Windbreaks are
essential; I would make them of three rows of box-elder or Osage orange.
I prune with a small saw or knife, to thin the top. I fertilize my
orchard with yard litter and ashes, scattering it all over the ground;
would advise it on all soils. I have pastured my orchard with hogs, but
have quit it. I now pasture with cows; I tie their heads down, but do
not think it advisable; it does not pay. My trees are troubled with
tent-caterpillar, bud moth, and twig-borers, and my apples with
codling-moth. I do not spray. I pick my apples by hand in a basket, and
sort into two classes. Sell my apples to storekeepers and Indians; make
cider and vinegar, and give away the second and third grades; feed the
culls to the hogs and cattle. My best market is at home; never tried
distant markets. Don't dry any. I have stored apples in boxes and
barrels, and find Ben Davis and Winesap keep best. I have to repack
stored apples before marketing, losing one-third to one-half of them. Do
not irrigate. Prices have been from twenty cents to one dollar per
bushel.
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account