SPRAYING THE APPLE ORCHARD. 15 



grow a crop, even if they do not always use them, but few 

 understand the value of protecting the fruit from its 

 enemies, how much fruit is destroyed by them, and how 

 this loss may be prevented. Thorough spraying rightly 

 managed will prevent these losses and is, therefore, a neces- 

 sary operation in all successful fruit culture. 



"But," you say, "my fruit last year was practically as 

 good as my neighbor's, who sprayed." Possibly so if you 

 refer merely to the quality of that picked, and if your trees 

 bore a good crop. But did you notice that the sprayed 

 trees probably bore a barrel more fruit than yours, though 

 all were equally well set in the spring, and did you observe 

 the larger number of wormy and diseased windfalls under 

 your trees than under those sprayed? These are factors 

 not ordinarily considered. And again, when you have but 

 a light crop, do you then have as good fruit as your neigh- 

 bor who sprays, for in the off year the worminess of the 

 fruit is much more apparent and as the price of the fruit 

 is better, it is better appreciated? Indeed, if you will con- 

 sider the matter, doubtless you will agree that one can 

 never predict whether the fruit will be unusually wormy 

 or diseased or entirely free from such defects, in any indi- 

 vidual season. The necessity for spraying regularly is 

 therefore apparent. Injury from insects and diseases 

 must be prevented, rarely can it be stopped after it has 

 become noticeable. 



The necessity and profit of spraying have come to be 

 realized by all successful fruit growers in the great fruit 

 belts of the country. Many of them would not undertake 

 to raise fruit without a spray pump, for the profit in apple 

 culture is in producing a quality of fruit which will sell a 

 little better than the average price, and such fruit must 

 be sprayed. But in New Hampshire there are probably 

 not a score of men who spray regularly and intelligently. 

 Those who have sprayed but one or two seasons do not need 

 urging to continue spraying, for they have found that the 

 silvery spray is transformed into silver dollars by fall. 



