102 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



directly attributable to spraying. Diff'erent seasons, also, 

 show great variation in the prevalence of fungous diseases, 

 a dry season reducing them to a minimum. I can readily 

 imagine circumstances under which the prolits accruing from 

 spraying in a single year would hardly cover the expense ; 

 but there is no question whatever that the man who sprays 

 his fruit-trees or his potatoes thoroughly, persistently and 

 intelligently, will, other things being equal, realize profits 

 far in excess of the man who neglects spra^'ing, or practises 

 it spasmodically and without any intelligent plan. 



The truth of this statement is not always apparent, simply 

 because the average farmer neglects what seems to an out- 

 sider a feature of primary importance in farm economics. 

 In every other successful line of business, except farming, 

 the operator knows what he is about. He knows what re- 

 turns he is getting on every branch of his investment, and 

 once a year at least he prepares a balance sheet of receipts 

 and expenditures. The farmer usually does nothing of the 

 kind. A supposed improvement in methods is adopted 

 by him, if adopted at all, on hearsay. He does not, and 

 the chances are he never will, know whether that practice 

 really nets him a profit or not. It appears, when adopted, 

 to be an advantage, but he may be deceived by appearances. 

 He may go on for years actually losing money, when all the 

 while he is congratulating himself on the supposed fact that 

 he is thoroughly "up to date," and therefore necessarily 

 prosperous. As a matter of fact, no practice is of certain 

 value unless approved in every instance by the balance 

 sheet. 



I have told you, for example, that it pays to spray pota- 

 toes ; now, the last thing you should do is to believe my 

 word without further proof. You know nothing of me per- 

 sonally. I may be mistaken in this matter, or, for anything 

 you know to the contrary, I may be in the pay of some pump- 

 manufacturer. Or it may be that results obtained in Ver- 

 mont cannot be duplicated in Massachusetts. What, then, 

 are you to do? The only proper proceeding is, in case you 

 have any confidence in my statements and in the experience 

 of others, to test the matter for yourselves, and to test it 

 intelligently. Buy or borrow a pump, and spray your 



