An Effort to Help the Farmer. 243 



Fruits. — The fruit interests received the first attention, 

 because the original act of the legislature so requested. There 

 was also great fitness in this, because these interests are relatively 

 new, they are beset bj^ many special difficulties, and there is a 

 strong tendency to forsake the old-line farming for fruit-growing. 

 There is also a rapidly growing demand for instruction in such 

 special businesses as flower-growing and glass-house gardening. 

 In a preliminary and educational way, nearly the entire field of 

 New York fruit-growing has been worked over ; and thenceforth 

 the fruit-farmer needs new instruction in special problems rather 

 in the great underlying principles. Two of the horticultural 

 investigators have been to Europe (at their own expense) and 

 have made particular studies of similar problems there ; and the 

 New York fruit-grower has had the benefit of these observations 

 in bulletins and lectures. 



Of bulletins relating to fruit-growing interests, including 

 insects and diseases, 35 have now been issued under the Nixon 

 bill. Some of the subjects are as follows : 



Hints on the planting of orchards. 



The cultivation of orchards. 



The peach industry in New York. 



Grape troubles. 



Grafting of grapes. 



The quince. 



Failures in apple-growing. 



Blackberries. 



Raspberries, and evaporating them. 



Plums in New York. 



Japanese plums. 



Strawberries. 



Dwarf apples. 



Apricot-growing. 



Cherries 



Care of fruit trees. 



Soil depletion in orchards. 



Insects, fungfi. — Special efforts have been made to check the 

 spread of the most injurious insects pests and plant diseases. 

 Experts have been sent to investigate serious outbreaks. 

 Orchards have been sprayed, mass-meetings have been called to 



