110 LUTHER BURBANK 



same manner; but as there is a second crop of 

 these moths, another spraying may be necessary 

 later in the season. 



BATTLING THE PESTS 



We should add that as to this matter of fight- 

 ing plant diseases and pests with the spray, as 

 also in the matter of the renovation of neglected 

 orchards, advice must be offered rather at second 

 hand. My own orchards, as a matter of course, 

 have not been neglected. While my orchards are 

 cultivated thoroughly, so that a weed is seldom 

 seen, very little fertilizer is used and rarely any 

 spraying, as the main object is to obtain varieties 

 that are immune to fungus and insect diseases, 

 and which will thrive in ordinary soils and under 

 ordinary systems of cultivation. No pampered 

 pets are offered from my grounds for general 

 culture. 



I would urge any orchardist who operates on 

 a large scale to consider the matter of selecting 

 as far as possible varieties of fruit trees that are 

 more or less immune to disease, rather than to de- 

 pend on the at best somewhat precarious method 

 of warding off the enemies by spraying. Preven- 

 tion is better than cure with plants no less than 

 with human beings. But of course the renovator 

 of an old orchard, whose task is at the moment 



