162 ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



I know of four orchards where boiled Lime and Sulfur has been 

 ver}' successful in controlling Oyster Shell Scale. Occasionally I 

 meet with (ho men who claim to know just how to care for trees, but 

 do not do it. I iind men who are spraying with Bordeaux and Paris 

 green before the buds burst for Oyster Shell Scale and say that they 

 know that they are killing the scale, but such men are scarce in 

 my territory, because tliere is only now and then a man who is try- 

 ing to do anything in the way of spraying, or intelligent pruning. 



In Lackawanna and Susquehanna counties there are very few 

 extensive fruit growers. 



Dairying has been the chief occupation of the farmers in this 

 section. In some parts fruit is grown at a profit. The soil and cli- 

 mate are well adapted to the growing of the very best varieties of 

 apples, and I believe there are many places where commercial or- 

 chards could be made very profitable, but no one in either county, 

 so far as I know, lias gone into fruit growing on a modern, exten- 

 sive plan. 



The attendance at the demonstrations this year has been compara- 

 tively small, yet I can see that the work done 'at the Dalton demon- 

 stration orchard has had its influence. Farmers and townspeople 

 who never attended the meetings have taken up the work in their 

 own orchards. 



There is a growing interest in the work. Two years ago when 

 I began it in this section the farmers knew nothing about it or its 

 object. They are gradually growing to feel that it is being carried 

 on to aid them in fruit growing rather than to incur an unnecessary 

 expense ujjon them. 



Generally speaking, I have met with but very little opposition, 

 and with but few exceptions the farmers and fruit growers have 

 taken favorably to the work. Tlie more intelligent and successful 

 the fruit growers, the more courteous and appreciative I find them 

 to be. 



It seems to me that the inspection work should continue long 

 enough to give informatoin to the fruit growers who know nothing 

 concerning the scale and how to control it. In the two hundred 

 or more places that I found San Jos^ Scale during the last two years, 

 I have never found it in a single place where the party knew that 

 he had it, and, of course none had sprayed for it. 



I think that if the work should be suspended at the end of this 

 year it could not but be attended with serious results, for it is up 

 to the State to make good the work that it has undertaken this year. 

 I refer especially to the demonstration orchards. 



The farmers are looking upon the work with critical eyes, and 

 rightly, too. Therefore, I say that it is up to the State to make good 

 its claims, and this cannot be accomplished in one year. 



When the farmers are thoroughly convinced that spraying means 

 dollars and cents to them, and that it is practical, they will take to 

 it readily, and not until then. They look upon the work as being 

 a great deal of trouble, without due compensation for their labors. 

 They are inclined to look upon Inspectors as men sent out by the 

 Department, who know little or nothing about the practical side of 

 fruit growing. It is the practical man that appeals to the farmer. 



If the work is to continue with growing success, the men sent 

 out must be men that will command the respect of the public and 



