No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 139 



poultry, honey, butter and milk. Necessarily, in this occupation, 

 tli(; experiences are various, requiring constant industry and care, 

 as well as some business knowledge and the application of the best 

 known methods for the production of the various crops to meet a 

 growing competition and low prices. 



Almost every person having land under cultivation aspires to do 

 marketing, so that during the season many attend market at times; 

 pertions who do not know the value of their products and sell at 

 almost any otter that is made, so that unless a superior article is 

 produced of merited superiority, put up in attractive form and 

 brought around with some regularity it becomes discouraging and 

 not a few, after demoralizing the markets, quit in disgust. In order 

 to be successful in producing the best of everything, requires more 

 than ordinary care in the selection of soil, location, cultivation and 

 fertilizing, as well as incessant work combating the many insects 

 and fungous diseases, besides condition of weather which cannot 

 be so well guarded, only modified to an extent. The fertilizer ques- 

 tion especially concerns the fruit grower and market gardener. 

 Homeopathic doses, such as are applied to ordinary field crops, are 

 not sutticient to produce quickly and profitably many of the articles 

 referred to. The average farmer considers a dOO-pound application 

 of a '^phosphate" as an extra heavy dose, and often produces remark- 

 able results, which appears the more remarkable when a calcula- 

 tion is made of 43,560 square feet in an acre of land and that about 

 one-seventh of an ounce only is applied and more often only half 

 as much is used, only one-fourteenth of an ounce to a square foot, 

 is condemned. The contingencies to success are many, too wet or 

 dry, storms, especially hail, fortunately^ limited in area usually 

 and if the results are not visible as far as sight reaches, the fertilizer 

 proves severe loss at times. A French discovery recently indicates 

 the way to avoid damage from hail, and perhaps it will be necessary 

 to each farmer, besides his force pumps, squirt guns, powder bel- 

 lows and general outfit to arm himself w'ith a cannon-like weapon 

 ready charged, so when a hail storm approaches a few discharges 

 of his mortar-like gun will cause an atmospheric agitation to dis- 

 seminate the frost laden clouds. 



To get there first, if some distance away when a storm approaches 

 at a thirty-mile gait, will probably require some training from which 

 most old men would rather be excused, especially if not trained on 

 the diamond or the football field. I am satisfied, after experiment- 

 ing, that trimming, thinning fruit, heavy fertilizing and spraying 

 are all necessary practices to produce first class fruit. It is surpris- 

 ing, after all that has been said and printed on the subject of spray- 

 ing, that it is so little understood. The blossom of fruit is very 

 delicate, yet thoughtlessly some persons are stupid enough to de- 



