CONFERENCE OF GOVERNORS. 



19 



question regarding the profitableness of spraying as an orchard 

 practice. It has long passed the debatable or controversial stage. 

 It is now simply a matter of method, with a view of conforming 

 to local or seasonal conditions. While plot experiments first demon- 

 strated the efficiency of spraying methods, field demonstrations are 

 not wanting with which to drive home the lesson. For instance, 

 we have found, after making a census of some 100,000 acres of apple 

 orchards in western New York, that the difference between the re- 

 turns of the man who sprays his orchard properly and the man 

 who does not spray is as 'i is to 1 ; in other words, spraying may 

 actually double the gross financial returns. We have found that 

 in the well-cultivated orchards of Orleans County, New York, the 

 man who does not spray,. but otherwise cares for his orchard, may 

 secure a return of $103 per acre; but the orchardist who sprays 

 once is rewarded by an increase of income of $36 per acre; the 

 orchardist who sprays twice, with an increase of income of $40 

 per acre; he who sprays three times, an increase of income of 

 $81 per acre; while the industrious man who sprays four times 

 may be rewarded by an increase of $108 per acre, or a total income 

 of $311 per acre. How many orchards in Xew England give an 

 increase of one-tenth of this amount? The following table sets 

 forth these data in detail : — 



Spraying, Yield axd Income per Acre, 1904, Orchards All well cared 

 FOR. Orleans O^untv, New York. 



Cost of Spraying. — What does it cost to spray an acre of apple 

 trees? This depends upon the age of the trees, the character of 

 the ground and the number per acre. In New York, the cost of 

 spraying large trees thirty to forty years old four times with a 

 combined insecticide and fungicide varies from 30 to 50 cents per 

 tree per season ; this will bring the cost per acre between $10 and 

 $15. The New Hampshire Experiment Station found that it cost 

 exactly 23 cents per tree to make four sprayings. Their experi- 

 ments gave the following returns: — 



