198 MINNES9TA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



if the owners of these orchards could be induced in some way to 

 give them the right care and the right management that inside of 

 two years Minnesota could double the value of her orchard output, 

 and show a very high percentage of increase in yield and quality 

 of fruit in a short time. I believe this could be done if only the 

 people who have the care of those trees would give them the kind 

 of care and management which is necessary in order to make 

 an orchard successful. 



I should like to bring to your attention as illustrating this 

 point of view some concrete examples from our own experience. 

 In your sister state to the south, we are engaged in extension 

 work among the farmers, as you are. Notwithstanding the fact 

 that we are growers of corn and of hogs and of cattle, we are 

 becoming increasingly interested in Iowa in the production of 

 good orchards. One of the ways in which we are doing this is by 

 carrying on demonstrations in orchard work in different com- 

 munities over the state. 



One of the plans is to work together with the extension 

 poultry expert and arrange dual orchard and poultry demonstra- 

 tions. If they can't get the folks interested in one they may in 

 the other. When the subject of spraying comes up it is shown 

 that the spray pump can be used to spray the poultry house to 

 rid it of lice and vermin, and also to spray the orchard trees to 

 protect them from the insects and diseases that prey upon the 

 orchards. At the same time the young man can use it to wash 

 the buggy on Saturday afternoon preparatory to the customary 

 use of it on Sunday. It can be used to wash windows and 

 porches and for various other purposes. So they induce people 

 to take an interest in getting a spray pump. 



When that is done they have made a long step in advance. 

 Why? Because one of the reasons why orchards are not more 

 successful is because of the insects and diseases that prey upon 

 them. If we can only put in the hands of our people a method of 

 controlling those insects and diseases and give them confidence 

 that they may control them if they will, we can get more of them 

 to produce good fruit. Fruit is absolutely the best thing we can 

 get out of any orchard. We cannot produce good fruit if we 

 leave the orchard a prey to every insect and every disease that 

 comes along. It must have our assistance. 



Let me tell you about one of these demonstrations. This 

 orchard is located in west central Iowa, where there is a vast 

 stretch of fertile country, similar to what you will see here in 



