35G Report of the Horticultural Department of the , 



polliuation of the flowers. These teachings have been so gener- 

 ally accepted that there is a law on our statute books making 

 it a misdemeanor to spray fruit trees when in bloom because 

 the spraying is liable to kill the bees. In certain parts of the 

 apple-growing regions in Western New York, there has arisen 

 a feeling that better results are to be secured if the trees are 

 sprayed when they are in full bloom; and this belief is founded 

 upon tests made by practical men. Growers who found it impos- 

 sible to complete the spraying before the trees were in bloom 

 found that the latter-sprayed trees gave better results. The 

 following notes will indicate the origin in Western New York of 

 this belief in the efficacy of spraying apple trees when they are 

 in full blossom. These notes are given here only for the pur- 

 pose of showing how strong the conviction is in some places, 

 that spraying in bloom is a good practice, and of explaining 

 why the experiment stations have taken up the investigation of 

 the subject. 



The beneficial results that are said to follow the spraying of 

 fruit trees when they are in bloom were noticed in Western 

 New York by an apple-grower of Gasport, in 189S. He had 

 planned to spray all his apple trees that year according to spray 

 calendar directions, that is, just before the blossoms opened; 

 but the extent of his orchard and several unavoidable interrup- 

 tions, including rainy weather, prevented him from doing so. 

 The result was that part of his trees were sprayed before the 

 blossoms opened, part when they were in full bloom, and part 

 after the blossoms had fallen. Bordeaux mixture and Paris 

 green were used in all cases. A second spraying with the same 

 mixture was given after the fruit had set. This grower reported 

 that he had by far the largest crop and finest fruit on those trees 

 that were sprayed when in full bloom, and that the percentage 

 of inferior fruit increased on other trees as they were further 

 removed from this period of spraying. In the same year a 

 smaller orchard owned by this man was sprayed with Bordeaux 

 and Paris green while in full bloom, and again just after the 

 fruit had set. It produced a fine crop of fruit, while other 



