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
I prune very cautiously, and mostly on the north side, using a saw and
knife, to give symmetry and keep limbs from crowding; I think it
beneficial. I fertilize portions of my orchard with stable litter; would
not advise it on all soils, as I think an orchard can be overstimulated.
I have pastured the orchard with calves and hogs, but do not now; it
does not pay; do not think it advisable. My trees are troubled with
canker-worm, flathead borer, and fall web-worm, and my apples with
codling-moth and curculio. I spray April 15 and May 10, on later date,
with London purple, for insects. Think I have reduced the codling-moth.
For insects not affected by spraying, I keep the tree in a healthy
condition. Pick my apples by hand; sort into three classes--market,
cooking, and cider. I sell apples in the orchard, wholesale, retail, or
peddle; sell the best apples in the orchard or to dealers; peddle the
second and third grades; make cider of the culls. I find the nearest
markets to be the best; never have tried distant markets. Do not dry
any. Do not store any, but think I shall. Do not irrigate, but would if
I had the water. Prices have been fifty cents to one dollar per bushel
for best winter apples.
* * * * *
H. A. CONDRA, Longton, Elk county: I have resided in Kansas twenty-one
years; have an apple orchard of seventy-five trees, twenty years old,
ten to sixteen inches in diameter, twenty to twenty-five feet high. I
have thirty more which are but two years old. For market I prefer Ben
Davis, Winesap, Jonathan, and Missouri Pippin; and for family orchard
Red Astrachan, Maiden's Blush, Rawle's Janet, Missouri Pippin, and
Winesap. I prefer a bottom which has a rich loam, with a gravel subsoil
and a north or east slope. I prefer two-year-old trees having but two
limbs, both starting from the same place, set in holes four to six feet
in diameter, two feet deep, filled in with good dirt. I cultivate my
orchard to corn--so as to keep weeds down and hold moisture--use a disc
harrow and cultivator so as to keep the soil loose and fine two or three
inches down. I cease cropping after eight or ten years, and plant
nothing in a bearing orchard. Windbreaks are not essential. For rabbits
I use tin from the roofs of burned buildings or building paper. I prune
with a saw and an ax to thin the tops and keep the limbs above my head;
think it pays. I do not thin the fruit while on the trees. My trees are
planted in blocks [of same kind]. I fertilize my orchard with any
well-rotted manure; I think it beneficial, and would advise its use on
all soils, especially on old orchards. I do not pasture my orchard; do
not think it advisable; it does not pay.
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