136 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



the nectar and pollen they are after is poisoned by spraying at the wrong 

 time [during blossoming], they are liable to be poisoned, and less fruit will 

 be set. Therefore, never allow your trees to he sprayed while the large pink 

 or white blossoms are still on them, for the job will not be as well done, less 

 fruit will be set, and many bees may be killed. ... It is the best policy 

 never to spray any plant while it is in blossom. 



It has been shown, by the experiments made in the season of 

 1900 in New York State, that spraying fruit trees in bloom 

 tends to thin the fruit, if the treatment is given soon after the 

 buds open. When trees had a great abundance of blossoms, 

 spraying but once in the blossoming season lessened the yield 

 somewhat. By repeatedly spraying during the blossoming 

 season, thus hitting the blossoms as they opened from day to 

 day, the blossoms were nearly all destroyed, resulting in a 

 scarcity of fruit set.^ 



Some States apparently are not concerned in this problem by 

 nature of the pests which do not occur in blossoming season. 

 It is also intimated, as in Indiana, that spraying practices do 

 not conflict with the beekeeper, because of the recognized im- 

 portance of bees. It is reported from Idaho: "The fruit 

 growers here are versed in the exact time to apply the first, 

 or calyx, spray, which is after most of the petals have fallen 

 and there are but few bees working." 



On the contrary, in certain districts where certain crops are 

 grown or where some insect or fungous pest is dominant, it is 

 considered necessary, in order to bring these under control, to 

 spray regardless of blossoming seasons or the bees. But such 

 occasions, as in the Watsonville district of California, where 

 climatic conditions inhibit the control of a fungous pest, and 

 require spraying even though the trees are in blossom, are ex- 

 ceptional cases, and hence fall without consideration of general 

 policies concerning beekeepers. 



The consideration of adopting a repellant spray, elsewhere 

 mentioned, is an important one. In speaking of it Professor 

 P. J. Parrott remarks that some work in this particular would 

 certainly be worth while. He also refers to the general status 

 of the problem, and raises the economic and scientific question, 



> From Circular 97, New York State Department of Agriculture. 



