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
JAMES LAWRY, Hollis, Cloud county: I have lived in the state sixteen
years; have an apple orchard of 140 trees from six to fourteen years
old. For all uses I prefer Ben Davis, Winesap, and Missouri Pippin. I
have discarded the Willow Twig because they die out. I prefer a clay
soil. I prefer three-year-old trees set in big holes. I cultivate my
orchard about five years with a one-horse shovel plow. I plant potatoes
or sweet corn in a bearing orchard, and cease cropping when the trees
cover the ground, and sow red clover in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks
are essential; would make them of mulberries. I prune with a saw, to
make them more productive; I think it pays. I never thin my fruit while
on the trees. Can see no difference whether trees are in block of one
kind or mixed plantings. I do not fertilize my orchard, or spray. I pick
my apples by hand from a ladder. I do not sell in the orchard. I do not
pasture my orchard. Don't dry any.
* * * * *
LEVI KIMMAL, Concordia, Cloud county: I have lived in Kansas twenty-five
years; have an apple orchard of 120 trees eighteen years old. For market
I prefer Ben Davis, Missouri Pippin, and Winesap; and for a family
orchard Missouri Pippin, Winesap, Limber Twig, and Maiden's Blush. I
have tried and discarded Golden Russet on account of shy bearing. I
prefer a sandy loam with a clay subsoil, having a north or northwest
aspect. I prefer two-year-old trees for planting. I plant my orchard up
to bearing with potatoes and corn; then seed down to red clover.
Windbreaks are essential; would make them of several rows of Osage
orange on the south side of the orchard. I prune my trees; thin out the
top to let the sun in for coloring. My trees are more fruitful when
planted in blocks. I fertilize my orchard with stable litter; I think it
beneficial because it mulches, enriches, and holds the moisture, and
would advise its use on all soils; no land is so good but what stable
litter will make it better. I do not pasture my orchard; I do not think
it advisable; but I mow all the weeds or whatever grows in the orchard
and leave it on the ground for a mulching. My trees are troubled with
twig-borers and leaf-rollers, and my apples with codling-moth. I have
sprayed my trees when in blossom with Paris green; did not succeed last
year. I dig borers out and pick the bad fruit (if there is any) off. I
hand-pick my apples for winter use into baskets from step-ladders. I
sell apples in the orchard; would rather sell that way than to hold
them. I feed the culls to pigs. My best market is at home; I never tried
a distant market. I do not dry any. I am successful in storing apples
for home use in a cellar. I do not irrigate, but use stable litter for
moisture. Winter apples brought fifty cents per bushel; dried apples
three or four cents per pound.
* * * * *
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