April, ’20] 
CROSBY AND PALMER: SPECIAL SPRAY SERVICE 
215 
and, moreover, they do not receive a sufficient salary to make them 
wish to settle down in the work permanently as field assistants. 
It has been found that the efficiency of the work requires that the 
field assistants be under the close supervision of some person well 
trained and who also has had experience in demonstration work. The 
supervisor should be a man of tact and enthusiasm who is able to help 
the assistants in becoming quickly oriented in their work, in getting 
in touch with the growers of the county, and in coordinating their 
activities with those of the county agricultural agent. 
In those counties where fruit-growing is a highly specialized indus¬ 
try, the most important feature of the work is a spray service whereby 
the growers are kept informed as to the proper sprays to apply and the 
exact time at which they should be made. In most counties the in¬ 
formation is sent to the growers by means of a relay telephone system, 
always supplemented by circular letters or postal cards. In some 
cases, where the time factor is not so important, the telephone is not 
used and the circular letter employed in its place. 
In western New York, particularly, where the control of apple 
scab is of the utmost importance, the weather is the vital factor in 
determining the time at which most sprays must be applied. In this 
region the work of the field assistants was greatly facilitated by the 
cooperation of the United States Weather Bureau. A special fore¬ 
caster was detailed to the Rochester office from April 6 to July 10. 
Arrangements were made whereby he received from Washington twice 
daily a special long range forecast, covering the conditions most 
needed by the service. These forecasts were often modified by the 
special forecaster. At least one of these forecasts as modified by the 
forecaster was sent daily to each of the Farm Bureau offices where a 
special assistant was stationed. As a rule the night forecast is more 
useful, but owing to the fact that the telegraph offices in the smaller 
towns are closed from 8 p. m. to 8 a. m. and the message cannot be 
delivered until after the growers have begun the day’s work, it was 
found necessary in some counties to rely on the morning forecast. 
In order to obviate this difficulty and also to facilitate the interpre¬ 
tation of the forecast, it has been found advantageous to have the 
general supervisor of the spray service in close touch with the special 
forecaster at critical times. Through a personal consultation with the 
forecaster he was often enabled to arrive at a decision in regard to a 
spray warning and immediately communicate with the field assistants 
of the various counties by telephone. In this way the assistant had 
knowledge of probable rainy periods three or four days in advance 
and was able to issue spray warnings in time for the growers to make 
the applications before the rains. A striking illustration of the prac- 
