29!) 
American Agriculturist, November 3,1923 
Spray Service That Counts 
Wayne Growers Improve Quality 50% In One Year 
F IVE years ago the 
spray information 
service was inaugurated by the Wayne 
County (New York) Farm Bureau. 
During the first year less than 200 
fruit growers made use of this service. 
During the past year nearly 700 grow¬ 
ers were on the roll. This is fairly 
conclusive evidence that the fruit grow¬ 
ers. of Wayne County have come to re¬ 
alize the value of this service that 
aids them in their spraying program. 
Years ago, the fruit growers of 
Wayne County depended primarily on 
evaporators to handle the apple crop 
of the county; but during the last few 
years the tendency is to sell more and 
more of the crop in barrels. When the 
men were selling through evaporators 
there was not the incentive to produce 
extra fine quality fruit, but during the 
last few years, and especially since the 
apple packing law came into effect, 
there has been an effort on the part 
of every fruit ‘grower to produce bet¬ 
ter quality- fruit year by year. 
Where Cooperation is Necessary 
The Farm Bureau, realizing that 
they could be of service, has aided 
in this work by putting on a special 
fruit m^n who is posted on the con¬ 
trol of insects and diseases. This 
special fruit man keeps the growers 
posted in regard to time to spray, ma¬ 
terials to use, etc. 
This system is so planned that the 
675 growers can be reached within two 
or three hours. The plan is as fol¬ 
lows : The county is divided into zones 
which takes into consideration the de¬ 
velopment of the fruit buds in that 
zone. Every member who applies for 
the' service is grouped according to his 
telephone central and regrouped ac¬ 
cording to the zone in which he lives. 
A week previous to the time that a 
given spray goes out, a letter is sent 
to every member giving him detailed 
information in regard to the preval¬ 
ence of the disease or insects and the 
best known method of controlling it. 
The bureau also cooperates with the 
United States; Weather Bureau and 
Plant Pathology and Entomology De¬ 
partments of the State College, so that 
when a notice of a storm period is 
coming, and it is time for a spray to 
go on, the notice is sent out. One man 
is called up in each telephone central, 
and he in turn calls three more, and 
these three—three more apiece; re¬ 
laying it on until every man in that 
central has been reached. Immediate¬ 
ly following this telephone message, 
a follow-up postal card is sent out 
notifying the members that the tele¬ 
phone message has been sent. This 
checks up any failure to pass the mes¬ 
sage on because of the telephone being 
out of order, etc. 
Does It Pay? 
So much for the operation of the 
spray service. The question on most 
people’s mind is: “Does it pay and is 
it worth while.” We can only go by 
the results that we get. In each zone, 
two men, one on the east side and one 
on the west side of the county, put 
on a spray on a section of their or¬ 
chard each time a notice is sent from 
the Farm Bureau Office. We get the 
results from these orchards. This year, 
in the five orchards that have already 
been checked up, Mr. Irving- Granger, 
Wolcott, N. Y., produced 89.3 per cent 
perfect apples in his Greening block. 
Hendricks Brothers of Huron produced 
90 per cent perfect apples. Mr. 
William Hawley, Red Creek, produced 
81.6 per cent perfect. Mr. Perry 
Shear, North Rose, produced 86 per 
cent perfect on his Hubbardstons. 
Hendricks Bros, on their Baldwin block 
produced 85.1 per cent perfect. William 
Hawley—81.2 per cent perfect; and 
Perry Shear—80 per cent on Baldwins. 
Mr. Charles Lembke, Lyons, produced 
91 per cent A-grade of Greenings. 
The above results show what re-j 
suits some of the men are getting. 
The other demonstrational orchards 
will run just about the same. 
Each year, about the middle of Au¬ 
gust, a fruit tour is made to several of ‘ 
the orchards that are under supervision. 
These tours, during the last few years, 
have been very successful. This year, 
70 cars and 215 people 
took .a trip of 45 miles 
in the county and visited eight orchards. 
After going around and seeing the 
results secured, the men follow the ser¬ 
vice more closely. This has been the 
case during the last three or four 
years. The production of good apples 
is absolutely dependent upon thorough 
spraying and spraying at the proper 
time. This is shown by the results se¬ 
cured on some of the check trees in the 
demonstrational orchards that received 
no spray whatever during the season. 
One of these check trees produced 97 
perfect apples out of eight bushels. 
Another—24 perfect apples out of three 
bushels; a third produced only 40 per¬ 
fect apples out of ten bushels; and still 
another produced 15 apples out of five 
bushels. 
More Thorough Spraying- Every Year 
Fruit growers are doing- more spray¬ 
ing and more thorough spraying each 
year; and it is adding dollars to their 
pockets. Last year, the Western New 
York Cooperative Packing Association 
found by careful analysis that the man, 
who received the sprhy service as is¬ 
sued by the fruit counties of the State, 
and .who used it throughout the season, 
received 85 cents per barrel more for 
his Greenings and 97 cents a barrel 
more for his Baldwins than the man 
who. produced apples where no spray 
service was given in the county. 
The quality of the pack through the 
packing association in Wayne County 
this year is 50 per cent better in some 
cases than it was last year—due to 
more careful and more timely spraying 
on the part of the producers. 
While headway has been made in 
Wayne County in the production of 
better fruit during the past few years, 
there is still room for improvement. 
There are many careless sprayers, and 
also growers who spx-ay without any 
regard to the development of the in¬ 
sects and diseases. A special man who 
spends his entire time keeping track of 
insects and diseases is in a position to 
supply information to the growers. 
The results secured during the last 
five years, and the increase in the num¬ 
ber who are signing up for the service, 
indicates that very rapid strides are 
being made in producing better quality 
fruit. 
MULCHING THE STRAWBERRY 
BED 
Will you kindly tell me, why it Is recom¬ 
mended that a cover of straw or some similar 
matter be placed on strawberry beds and what 
is the best material for that purpose 7 —J M 
C. y New York. 
There are many benefits resulting 
from mulching the strawberry bed. 
One of the main benefits is that a 
mulch protects the plants from the de¬ 
structive work of alternate freezing 
and thawing. Furthermore, the mulch 
improves the physical condition of the 
soil. It adds plant food, smothers 
weeds in the early spring and protects 
the fruit from dirt at picking time. 
The kind of material to be used for 
mulching depends entirely on the cost 
and availability. Horse manure con¬ 
taining a large percent of straw is per¬ 
haps one of the best materials. It is 
especially desirable if not too costly. 
It. has excellent fertilizing value, and 
with a large proportion of straw in it, 
it makes a splendid mat. It is less 
likely to blow off as such materials as 
bean vines. Bean vines, cornstalks, 
straw marsh, hay and swale grass are 
all excellent materials. Very fine ma¬ 
terial, such as sawdust, is not recom¬ 
mended, for it will undoubtedly smother 
the plants. 
The value of the mulch in preventing 
freezing and thawing is very great. It 
should not be understood that the 
mulch prevents the freezing of the 
plants. In fact, the plants are better 
off if the ground freezes early and 
remains frozen. The damage is done 
when there, is first a freeze and then a 
thaw. As the soil freezes it expands 
and forces the plants from the ground. 
Natui-ally there is nothing to pull it 
back when the ground thaws and the 
roots are left exposed and are winter 
killed. When there is a mulch the 
ground will not thaw so readily. 
By E. R. WAGNER 
Kodak on the Farm 
Story-telling pictures—such as Grandpa crack¬ 
ing butternuts—are the sort you’ll always hold 
precious. That’s sentiment. Selling pictures of 
your cattle, horses, sheep, or hogs; recording pictures 
of the comparative growth of crops from year-to- 
year—are the kind you want for practical use on 
the farm. And that’s business. 
Kodak gives you pictures the easiest way—as your 
dealer can show you—and by means of the autographic 
attachment, each negative is complete even to date and 
title. You’ll be quick to put to purpose this exclusive¬ 
ly Eastman feature. 
Autographic Kodaks $6.yo up 
Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y. 
OUR GUARANTEE 
Feed three or more cows on 
BULL BRAND DAIRY RATION 
in accordance with our direc¬ 
tions. If the results do not 
prove satisfactory to you, upon 
application to us or any of our 
dealers the money paid for the 
feed used will be refunded. 
Bull Brand forces the cows to the limit of their 
production—-three and one-half to four pounds 
of milk for every pound of Bull Brand—which 
means that Bull 
Brand is, by far and 
away, the 
cost feed 
lowest 
you can 
use. 
O here 's a Me 
BULL BRAND Dea 
in eferu lire lovJm 
MARITIME MILLING CO. 
BULL BRAND 
DAIRY RATION 
3-4 LBS. MILK from I LB. FEED! 
1 ' i 
'< / 
no/ 
It does not nan to 
mix vouroum feed! 
T TOME mixed feeds may be a little cheaper at 
the start—-but they never produce any¬ 
where near the maximum flow of milk. Add up 
the time lost in mixing—-the lower production-— 
and it is apparent that home-mixing does not pay ! 
Don’t forget-—it isn’t the price of a pound of feed 
that counts; it's the cost of making a pound of 
milk! 
