Spray Every Year. 355 



occurred the next year ; and the sprays generally 

 gave small results. There arose, therefore, a consid 

 erable indifference or even opposition to spraying, 

 which may be regretted when years of serious inva- 

 sion arise. It is a common fault with farmers that 

 they draw their conclusions from the behavior or ex- 

 periences 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 . 



3. Spraying is of some value every year, upon 

 apples, pears, plums, quinces, grapes, and various other 

 frit its. Even in years of great immunity, nearly all 

 sprayed orchards carry a better foliage than those 

 which are untreated. So, wholly aside from the idea 

 of insuring against risk, it is advisable to spray for 

 those insects which are more or less abundant every 

 year. Some insects and diseases appear late in the 

 season, so that in any year the spray may be needed 

 at some epoch in the season. It is, perhaps, useless 

 to urge people to spray their orchards. Those per- 

 sons who will not spare the trees this much of their 

 attention will not be likely to do much in the way of 

 tilling and fertilizing. One must grasp the entire 

 body of principles of orchard management before he 

 can hope for permanent rewards. 



4. Spray thoroughly, or not at all. Fully half 

 the spraying which is commonly done is a waste 

 of time and material. Squirting a few quarts of 

 water at a tree as one hurries past it, is not spray- 



