90 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



During the year 1914 the number of orcliard inspections by our 

 inspectors was fourteen thousand, five hundred and twenty-two 

 (14,522) ; the number of borough inspections was three thousand and 

 fifty-six (3,056) ; making a total of seventeen thousand, five hundred 

 and seventy-eight (17,578) inspections. 



SUPERVISION ORCHARDS 



The requests for the demonstration service became so numerous 

 that it was entirely impossible to meet it by the means at hand, and 

 individual owners of orchards, farms and truck fields insisted that 

 they had as much right to the presence and counsel of the demon- 

 strator on their premises as had their neighbor who owned the 

 orchard that was used for public demonstration purposes. Recog- 

 nizing in part the justice of their claims, and especially the serious 

 need of a service that could not otherwise be given, we devised the 

 plan now known as the Supervision Orchard Service. Under this 

 plan the demonstrator is sent to private premises to meet the owner 

 and inspect his premises thoroughly, to detect such pests as may 

 be present, and to point them out to him and tell and show him 

 what to do to suppress them, and then to take hold of the work in a 

 definite practical way, and show him just how to prune his trees, 

 how to make his spraying materials, and how to apply the same. 



One of the important features of the supervision service is that 

 our practical expert gives to the owner a written outline directing 

 the management of the orchard for the current year. This gives him 

 a plan for work in regard to cultivation, sowing cover crops and 

 catch crops, fertilizer, pruning, spraying, thinning fruit, etc. The 

 inspector goes again to the premises later in the year and makes 

 records as to the progress that is made, and offers such additional 

 recommendations or suggestions as may prove of value in pest sup- 

 pression or in crop production. Records of all reports and recom- 

 mendations are sent to this office and kept on file, and then used in 

 future correspondence with the owners who ask assistance from us 

 at various times. It is no wonder that the number of supervision 

 orchards rapidly increased under such careful and efficient service. 

 The requests for us to give this service to others continue daily to 

 come to the office. It is almost the same as the work in the demon- 

 tration orchards, excepting that it is not used for public meetings. 

 However, many of the owners of supervision orchards take advantage 

 of the opportunity to invite their friends when the inspector is to 

 come, and there may be from two to fifty persons present at the 

 supervision orchards on such an occasion. 



The supervision service bears directly upon the fulfillment of the 

 law authorizing this office to acquire and disseminate information 

 concerning the suppression of pests. It is the most effective means 

 of reaching the public in a practical way, and has done much to- 

 ward helping to improve the quality and quantity of the products of 

 Pennsylvania soil. During recent months we have found it advis- 

 able to enlarge the scope of the service in a very definite manner, 

 and include the supervision of truck farms, gardens, farm crops and 

 small fruits, with special reference to suppressing pests and pro- 

 ducing better crops. 



