260 BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE. 



SPRAYING. 



BY H. W. HENRY, LAPORTE. 



Spraying is to fruit, what beauty is to woman, it puts it on the mar- 

 ket. No good fruit can be put upon the market unless it has been prop- 

 erly sprayed, yet not ten per cent, of the farmers' orchards of Indiana 

 ever see a sprayer. Many of these orchards contain flne fruit, and could 

 be a gi-eat source of revenue to the owners if they had the proper care 

 and attention. Why are these orchards not cared for? I believe because 

 their owners lack the proper knowledge as to how to do it. 



We have ninety-two counties in the State of Indiana, and each one of 

 these counties, on an average, will contain at least 2.000 farmers' orchards 

 of from one to four acres, making at least 200,000 acres devoted to 

 farmers' orchards. The most of this land under present conditions is 

 simply waste land, and would be better in the corn or wheat tield. But 

 with proper care and spraying these orchards could be made to average 

 100 bushels of good apples per orchard, or 2,000,000 bushels of apples at 

 fifty cents per bushel would add $1,000,000 to the annual income of the 

 farmers of the State. 



With this conservative estimate of waste, it seems to me that the State 

 of Indiana could not make a better investment than to appropriate $5,000 

 to $10,000 to teach the farmers of the State how to care for and properly 

 spray these now neglected orchards, and make them a source of revenue 

 to the State. It is said by good authority that we import $1,000,000 worth 

 of apples into Indiana each year for home consumption, and here is al- 

 most the total amount going to waste each year from a lack of knowledge 

 how to properly care for it. 



Most farmers think this spraying is a mysterious business and some- 

 thing they can not understand, and belongs to the professional fruit 

 grower, with whom he does not care to associate for fear some other 

 farmer will say, "Why, Smith has gone into the truck business." They 

 have let it go from year to year, from bad to worse, until it will take a 

 revolution to awaken them. If they only knew that spraying is a very 

 inexpensive operation and could realize its true benefit, I believe they 

 would practice it as regularly as they do planting corn and sowing wheat. 

 A good barrel sprayer with a force pump, hose, and all complete will 

 not cost over $10 to $12, and it will last many years. The cost of the 

 material is a trifle, to make fifty gallons of Bordeaux and Paris-gi'een 

 mixture, will not cost over seventy-five cents. Four pounds of sulphate 

 of copperas at twelve and one-half cents and twelve pounds of lime at 

 ten Cents, and one-half pound Paris-green, fifteen cents. This can be 

 made in a few minutes. Pump a barrel half full of water, put the 



