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
W. D. CELLAR, Edwardsville, Wyandotte county: Been in Kansas twelve
years; have 2000 apple trees from two to eight years of age, comprising
Ben Davis, Jonathan, Gano and Missouri Pippin for commercial purposes,
and Maiden's Blush, Early Harvest, Bailey Sweet, Huntsman's Favorite,
Grimes' Golden Pippin and Winesap for family orchard. I have discarded
the McAfee and Lawver as unproductive. I prefer loose soil, and hill
land with an east and north slope. Plant thrifty two-year-old trees, in
rows 25x30 feet. I cultivate to corn, berries, etc., until seven or
eight years old, with the Planet jr. horse hoe, and then sow to clover.
Windbreaks are not needed in our locality. I prune conservatively,
cutting out broken or interlacing branches, and suckers at the base; I
believe it pays. Have never thinned on the tree, and fertilize with
barn-yard litter and clover. I do not pasture my apple orchard. Am
troubled some with insects, but have not sprayed. I dig out borers,
which I think may be largely prevented by the use of wooden tree
wrappers. I pick in the ordinary way and divide into two classes:
select, sound, smooth apples above two inches in diameter; number two,
sound apples too small for select. I do this on a sorting table, and
pack in twelve-peck barrels, pressed down, and marked with a stencil. I
sell at wholesale, sometimes in the orchard; culls I sell in the orchard
or the Kansas City market. Our best market is Kansas City. I have
shipped to distant markets and made it pay. Have never dried any. Have
stored for winter in barrels in cold store; they have not kept
satisfactorily, I cannot say why; Jonathan and Missouri Pippin kept best
this past winter. I had to repack this spring and lost twenty per cent.
Prices have ranged from 10 cents to $1.50 per bushel. For help I use
men, and pay one dollar per day.
* * * * *
C. D. GAISER, Lansing, Leavenworth county: Have lived in Kansas forty
years. Have 5000 trees eight years old, of Gano, Ben Davis, Jonathan,
and Huntsman's Favorite; I grow no others. My location is hilltop, with
good, rich soil, and a clay subsoil; slope makes no difference. I plant
two- and three-year-old trees, 15x30 feet, and cultivate to corn for
seven or eight years, and then sow to clover and timothy. I never prune,
thin, or fertilize; and allow no stock in the orchard. I do not spray,
but dig the flat-headed borer out with a knife. I use ladders, and
gather in baskets and pour into a wagon, and sort in unloading; I make
only two classes, culls and good apples. I ship my best apples to
different points in barrels, and it pays; my culls I make into cider.
Have never tried drying apples. I store some for winter in bulk, and
keep them successfully. I use men and boys for help. I sell for $1.25 to
$1.50 per barrel.
* * * * *
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