SPRAYING APPLE TREES. 203 



REPORT OF BUSINESS MEETING STATE FLORISTS' SOCIETY, 



JAN. 16, 1912. 



The annual meeting of Nebraska State Florists' Society was called 

 to order by President C. H. Green. 



The minutes of previous meeting were read and approved. 



The president made a report of the progress, and a prosperous busi- 

 ness among the florists during the past year, and the interest that has 

 been taken in the display at the state fair. 



A motion was made and carried that the State Horticultural Society 

 be asked to increase the premiums at the state fair. 



Messrs. Henderson and Green were appointed a committee to revise 

 the premium list and submit the same to the Horticultural Society. 



J. E. Atkinson, treasurer, reported that the receipts were in excess of 

 the expenses. 



The following officers were unanimously elected: President, Irwin 

 Frey, Lincoln; vice-president, J. W. Lawson, York; secretary, Lewis Hen- 

 derson, Omaha; treasurer, J. E. Atkinson, Pawnee City; trustees, C. H. 

 Green, Fremont; Ed Williams, Grand Island; W. E. Davidson, Holdrege. 



LOUIS HENDERSON, Secy. 



SPRAYING APPLE TREES. 

 By Prof. R. F. Howard, University of Nebraska. 



In every fruit growing locality there are men who refrain from grow- 

 ing apples merely because they have the idea that it is an exceedingly ex- 

 pensive and complex operation to protect the trees and crops from their 

 natural insect and fungous enemies. 



This attitude not only characterizes a class of men not actually in the 

 business, but it applies to a certain class of orchard owners. In general 

 this is not true of our largest growers — men who have most of their in- 

 terest and capital in the business. They have found, as men will find in 

 every line of business when their future depends upon the success with 

 which it is operated, that a certain amount of attention is as necessary 

 to successful fruit growing as it is to growing any other crop. On the 

 other hand, the number of apple trees in the state not receiving this at- 

 tention probably aggregate more than those in "commercial orchards." 

 Men who are familiar with the apple growing industry in the central west 

 know it is -useless to attempt to grow apples now free from insect and 

 fungous blemishes without spraying. The early settlers did not have to 

 give their trees this attention. They were able to grow fruit free from 

 these things because fruit tree pests, like many of our social evils, were not 

 known until civilization was fairly well established. In a way this is un- 

 fortunate for it usually takes a generation to get any new agricultural 

 practice into operation after its need becomes evident. 



The department of horticulture of the University began a series of 

 spraying experiments and demonstrations eight years ago in eastern Ne- 



