30 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMEXT STATION. I906. 



With the great orchardists of New York, Michigan and the 

 Pacific slope, spraying is just as much a part of the regular work 

 of fruit growing as is pruning, or even harvesting. No live 

 orchardist of California or Oregon would think of omitting the 

 five or six treatments with Bordeaux mixture and Paris green, 

 or with kerosene emulsion or resin wash, as the case might 

 demand, any more than he would omit frequent cultivation or 

 irrigation. It is because of this thoroughness in the production 

 of fruit, as well as in grading and packing, that the fruit growers 

 of the northwest are able to send their fruit across the continent 

 and so nearlv control the local eastern markets. 



REASON FOR SPRAYING. 



The leaves of plants have two functions essential to life and 

 health. They act, in a measure, as both lungs and stomach for 

 the plant. Consequently if they are destroyed or diseased, the 

 whole plant suffers ; the crop of fruit is lessened ; and the 

 vitality of the plant is weakened. It is for this reason that 

 spraying is of importance, even in those seasons when there is no 

 fruit. Spraying is an insurance and not a remedy, and there 

 should be a definite purpose in view for every application. 

 Specific directions for controlling the leading insect and fungous 

 enemies of the orchard are given in "How to Fight Apple 

 Enemies," published by this Experiment Station and sent free to 

 any one requesting it. 



RESULTS Of SPRAYING. 



In a recent canvas of the orchards of Wayne and Orleans 

 counties, New York, by Dr. George F. Warren,* it was found 

 that in Wayne county, of 66 sprayed orchards, representing 626 

 acres, the yield in 1903 was at the rate of 280 bushels per acre ; 

 while 107 unsprayed orchards, covering 673 acres, yielded at the 

 rate of 253 bushels per acre. For the sprayed fruit the average 

 price per barrel was $2.02 ; while for the unsprayed fruit the 

 price was but $1.80. 



* Bui. 226, 22-. Cornell Univ. Expt. Sta. 



