ORCHARDS ON THE PRAIRIES. 



During the three days' session of the Kansas State Horticultural 

 Society, which began at Topeka on December 2d, the usual wide range 

 of topics was under discussion, but throughout the entire meeting it 

 was easily seen that the subject of paramount interest was that of the 

 apple orchard, and especially the growing of market sorts. This 

 was doubtless due in part to the shortage of the apple crop in the east 

 and the presence in Kansas last fall of a host of eastern buyers who 

 took the surplus of apples at high prices. Much had been published 

 in state papers about the Wellhouse orchard of Leavenworth county, 

 and when the manager and part owner, Mr. F. Wellhouse, of Fair- 

 mont, took the floor as chairman of the standing committee on or- 

 chard culture he was plied with numerous questions relating to every 

 feature of the great enterprise. From his replies and from additional 

 information kindly given I gathered the following : The orchard is 

 owned by Messrs. Wellhouse & Wheat and contains 437 acres of trees 

 in bearing, planted in 1876, 1878 and 1879. Of the principal varie- 

 ties planted Ben Davis occupies 225 acres, Missouri Pippin seventy 

 acres, Winesap seventy acres, Jonathan forty acres, Cooper's Early 

 White sixteen acres, and Maiden Blush sixteen acres. In 1889 and 

 1890 of Ben Davis 370 acres were planted, Missouri Pippin 260 

 acres, Jonathan 120 acres, York Imperial fifty acres, and Gano twenty 

 acres. There were planted in the older orchard a total of 52,000 trees? 

 of which it is estimated that 40,000 are alive to-day. The heaviest 

 loss occurred from the effects of the winter of 1884-5. With a very 

 wet fall the trees made a late growth and went into the winter full of 

 unassimilated sap. With the mercury at twenty degrees below zero 

 during January many trees burst their bark, others were split through 

 the trunk. Many that did not die from this injury the next season 

 only lived a year or two longer. The loss from this cause was great- 

 est among the Ben Davis trees, amounting to about fifteen per cent of 

 the whole. It will be seen that the number of trees planted gives 

 about 119 to the acre. It is but fair to say that Mr. Wellhouse now 

 regards this planting as too close, and their young orchards mentioned 



(261) 



