THE SPRA YING OF FRUITS. 245 



worm) after the petals have fallen ; but in average years the 

 two early sprayings of Bordeaux-mixture advised above are 

 sufficient for the scab-fungus. This first spraying will be too 

 early to reach the codlin-moth larvae, but inasmuch as vari- 

 ous leaf-eating insects are common upon trees at this time, it 

 will be well to add the Paris-green to the Bordeaux-mixture, 

 particularly as the poison is cheap and does not in any way 

 interfere with the application or with the fungicidal action of 

 the Bordeaux-mixture. 



It is a prevalent notion that spraying is bound to make 

 orchards productive. Nothing could be more fallacious. The 

 causes of unproductiveness are many. When such cause is 

 insect or fungous injury, then spraying is a specific ; but when 

 the cause of unproductiveness is poor soil, lack of tillage and 

 other care, poor varieties, and the like, spraying can have 

 only a secondary and incidental effect in correcting the bar- 

 renness of the plantation. The general efficiency of spray- 

 ing is well tested. The practice is now beyond the experi- 

 mental stage, and the fruit-grower who does not resort to it 

 is far behind his opportunities. There is still much to learn 

 about mixtures, machinery, and the habits of insects and 

 fungi; but spraying as a feature in the management of fruit- 

 plantations rests upon as solid a basis of fact and demonstra- 

 tion as tillage or pruning does. This proof has been so un- 

 equivocal and so widely published, that it is doubtful if it is 

 any longer incumbent upon the experiment stations to urge 

 farmers to spray. The facts and methods are all accessible, 

 and if, in the face of this evidence, the fruit-grower does not 

 care to spray, he should be allowed to reap the harvest which 

 he desires. It is very doubtful if laws designed to enforce 

 spraying can be made of any service, for such laws always de- 

 pend upc*n enlightened public sentiment for their support, and 

 any mere perfunctory performance of the operation would 

 profit nothing. Spraying must be deliberately and very thor- 

 oughly done if any benefit is to come of it, and such spraying 

 is possible only when the operator is unreservedly convinced 

 of its importance for his own plantations. 



The efficacy of a spray depends upon hitting the enemy or 

 in placing poison upon every portion of the surface upon 

 which it works. Effective spraying, therefore, must cover 



