PKOl-TI'S IN SI-RAYING 47 



now arisen, therefore, considerable indifference or 

 even opposition to spraying, and I expect to see much 

 less of it next spring then I saw this spring. If, then, 

 next year should be prolific in insects and diseases, 

 there will be a few orchards here and there which 

 will reward the forethought of the owner, and very 

 many others which will be monuments of the results 

 of neglect. It is a common fault with farmers that 

 they draw their conclusions from the behavior or 

 experiences of each recurring season, and do not con- 

 sider the aggregate results of a series of years. Every 

 operation should rest upon some fundamental reason 

 or philosophy, rather than upon any single half- 

 understood experience. 



"A fruit grower wrote me as follows last July: 



1 'You are always advising people to spray their 



orchards. All my neighbors spent much time and 



money last spring in spraying, but I did not spray 



and my fruit is just as good as theirs.' 



' 'I do not doubt your experience,' I replied ; 

 'this has been a dry year and there has been little 

 scab fungus. But you should have insured your 

 orchard against probable loss by spraying it.' 



"A" few days later, the same correspondent wrote 

 again : 'We have had a heavy rain, but it seemed to 

 be poisonous to my potatoes and they are all black- 

 ened and wilted. What shall I do?' 



"I hope that there was no feeling of scarcasm in 

 my reply : 'I am sorry to hear of your loss, but it 

 is now too late to avert the calamity. Your potatoes 

 were not insured.' ' 



Effect on Size of Fruit There is a very general 

 agreement that apple trees properly sprayed with a 

 combined fungicide and insecticide yield larger fruit 

 than those not sprayed. A striking instance of this 

 as recorded by Lodeman, is illustrated in the picture 



