2be national nurseryman. 
FOR GROWERS AND DEALERS IN NURSERY STOCK 
Copyrighted 1908 by the National Nurseryman Publishing Co., Incorporated. 
Vol. XVI. ROCHESTER, N. Y„ MARCH, 1908 No. 3 
SPRAYING: ITS NEED AND PRINCIPLES. 
In 1893, E. G. Lodeman, late instructor in the Depart¬ 
ment of Horticulture of the Cornell University prepared a 
sheet designated a spray calendar, which was published by 
the Experiment Station. This marked the appearance of 
the first publication of 
this kind. The spray 
calendar has appeared 
in many forms under the 
authority of many writ¬ 
ers and institutions since 
that time. The Cornell 
publication has grown 
from the chart to the 
pamphlet form. Each 
year there is a distinct 
demand for this type of 
information. Fruit 
growers and farmers 
realize more clearly as 
each planting season 
returns that success 
often depends as much 
upon the application of 
intelligent methods in 
combating plant para¬ 
sites as upon the man¬ 
agement of the soil. 
If the writers of spray bulletins considered the expe¬ 
rienced orchardist or nurseryman only, many of the details 
found in its pages might be omitted, but we must bear in 
mind tha + there is constant change in the ranks of the farmers, 
fruit growers and nurserymen of the country. Old men 
are continually dropping out. Men new to the calling are 
taking their places. The city man becomes a gardener, 
then an orchardist, then a nurseryman. The suburban 
resident takes an interest in crop growing and develops a 
desire for a farm. These men and the young men need 
information, need boiled down directions for holding the 
enemy in check and some offer again condensed directions 
for the control of insect enemies and plant diseases. 
No man may be expected to carry all the formulas in his 
head, but he should know where they are to be found. 
THE NEED OF SPRAYING. 
Theoretically, man, the dominating figure in the animal 
kingdom, should be able to so pit one parasite against 
another as to maintain an equilibrium between friend and 
foe in the plants he cultivates. This may be ideal, but it is 
not presently attainable. In the meantime, San Jose scale 
spreads, canker worm and caterpillar devastate, codling 
worm and curculio destroy the fruit and blight blasts the 
pear and apple orchards. 
So the fruit grower must 
be up and doing. 
The annual loss from 
the incursions of destruc¬ 
tive insects in the United 
States exceeds by many 
times the yearly output 
of all the gold mines in 
the United States. The 
reduction in the value 
of the apple crop of New 
York State due to insect 
injury cannot be less 
than thirty per cent, one 
year with another. This 
is a heavy tax on the 
fruit grower, yet the 
injury could be lessened 
at least fifty per cent, 
by an expenditure of not 
exceeding two per cent, 
on the value of an average apple crop. The need for spray¬ 
ing is evident. It will probably increase as time goes on. 
THE PRINCIPLES OF SPRAYING. 
Plants are not cured of disease by medical treatment, 
like animals. Plants are not made immune to insect or 
fungous attack by previous treatment. We aim to protect 
plants by spraying, from two classes of enemies, insects and 
fungi (plural) fungus (singular). We protect plants. We 
do not cure them. How are they protected? By covering 
the foliage with a medium in which the fungus will not grow 
in the case of the plant parasite; by poisoning the leaf-eat¬ 
ing insect or killing the sucking insect with something which 
destroys its body. 
In both cases the principle of forehanded protection is 
involved. The protective agent should be well in advance 
of the enemy. Both diseases and destructive insects work 
rapidly. A delay of a few days may throw the remedy into 
the “too late” class. Of all the factors making for success 
in spraying, promptness is most important. Probably 
more failures result from tardiness than from any other cause. 
A “Friend” Machine Receiving a Charge. 
