PROCEEDINGS OP THE WINTER MEETING. 105 



that. One man will come up and furnish positive evidence that he has 

 saved his plums by spraying, and another that spraying has failed. I 

 am not a plum-grower, and I wanted to know. But Mr. Willard made 

 that assertion, and it pretty nearly cleaned up the topic. Afterward he 

 came up to the hotel, and took me by the collar and said, ''You ought to 

 know better than that." I said that I did not know, and that I wanted 

 information. I had heard both sides. Mr. J. J. Harrison was there, and 

 he said, "What is the matter with you, Willard, there are plenty of men 

 who take care of their plums and cherries by spraying. I have orchards 

 where I keep them off by nothing but spraying, and 1 preserve my fruit 

 perfectly, and the moment I stopped spraying they were stung." Now, 

 there were two men of national reputation directly opposed to one 

 another, and in less than three minutes we had three men on a side, 

 including Mr. E. Smith of Geneva and two other men equally well 

 known. Those on one side, with positive evidence that their fruit had 

 been saved by spraying; and those on the other side, that it was impos- 

 sible. It was my "picnic." There were six of the best men in the United 

 States, and they sat and disagreed for half an hour. They recited not 

 only their own experience, but the tests of the experiment stations, — tests 

 made to show that curculio could be controlled by spraying, while other 

 stations showed that it could not be done. Why shouldn't a fellow like 

 myself ask questions? 



Mr. Kice: The region about lake Ontario, on the north side of the 

 lake, is a great plum region. I was sent as delegate to the Ontario Fruit- 

 growers' association, and of course this question of spraying plums came 

 up at their meetings. The president of the association stated in regard 

 to it, that they had definite proof that spraying did injure the curculio 

 to a certain extent, and in this way: he sucks his food and does not get 

 the poison in that way, but if the poison gets into the incision made in 

 the plum, it kills the egg, and in that way helps; but that was the extent 

 of it, and there seemed to be no disagreement of opinion at the con- 

 vention. 



Mr. Morrill: It would be a profitless discussion, for it will never be 

 agreed upon, I presume. 



Mr. Brassington: I would like to have Mr. Gurney, if he has had any 

 experience in the use of commercial fertilizer, tell us what it is, and 

 perhaps he will be able to tell us something about the profits from the 

 use of commercial fertilizers. 



Mr. Gurney: I am inclined to think it pays to put on ground bone 



phosphate. I think the Detroit and Chicago people make a fertilizer that 



is very good, and I think it pays to put it on; but you won't see much 



difference the first year. The next year you will, and I think it pays well. 



14 



