October, '09] JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 339 



the foliage was healthier, the fruit better, and in better condition for 

 winter keeping, and several of these men who had never seen a sprayed 

 tree before in their lives concluded their reports like this, which is 

 quoted verbatim: "I will buy a large spraying outfit and will spray 

 all my trees next season." 



But still only a few had been reached. It remained to write up a 

 brief readable account of the work, including the favorable reports 

 of the growers, and to send it to the people ivho ought to he interested. 

 For several years we have kept up an inquiry into orchard conditions 

 by means of circular letter and blanks, and now have a list of about 

 1,500 names, representing about 500,000 apple trees in commercial 

 orchards. This then is a live list of real fruit-growers. This little 

 ten-page circular on "Apple Spraying Demonstrations, 1908" (Cir- 

 cular No. 24 of this office) was sent to this list, and we venture the 

 guess that f ew^ if any, of the copies were thrown away, at least until 

 they had been read from beginning to end. Here are a few quotations 

 from that circular: 



"Spraying must come to be the regular practice of the major- 

 ity of our growers and not practised regularly by an insignificant 

 number and trifled with spasmodically by a few more. 

 Just as soon as our growers learn this lesson and make it a vital 

 part of their practice they will find fruit-growing profitable, but 

 not before. For your own sakes study this spraying business and 

 get to work at it. . . . It is likely that similar demonstra- 

 tions will be given in 1909. . . . We hope that the inter- 

 ested fruit-growers will he there, and then go home and practise 

 what they learn." 



The spraying demonstrations for 1909 are now completed and we 

 await the harvest with confidence. We enlarged this season to twelve 

 demonstrations, each in a different county and all in counties not 

 touched last year. 



And now, after the final results of last year have been published and 

 distributed {among those interested) , we are getting the real results 

 that we have been after. We are reaching, and reaching effectively, 

 the actual majority of the fruit-growers in the neighborhoods where 

 the demonstrations are given. They are all becoming acquainted ^vith 

 spraying methods, and many of them have ali'eady bought outfits and 

 applied to us for directions for the work. A few incidents will be of 

 interest. Soon after our demonstration at Burlington a man (not a 

 commercial fruit-grower) who attended was in my office and said he 

 felt that he personally profited not less than $10 by what he learned. 



