New York AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 185 
controlled. At the Experiment Station the loss from blight was 
233 bushels per acre as shown by the results of spraying in the 
ten-year experiment. Had the spraying in the farmers’ experi- 
ments been as thorough as that done at the Station it is probable 
that the gain from spraying would have been doubled in many 
cases. Few farmers realize how great is the loss caused by 
potato blight. 
PROGRESS OF POTATO SPRAYING. 
It is gratifying to note that the practice of spraying potatoes” 
for blight is very evidently on the increase in New York. Dur- 
ing the past season much more potato spraying was done than 
ever before and the indications are that in 1905 there will be 
still greater activity along this line. Western New York (Monroe 
and Ontario Counties) and Eastern Long Island are taking the 
lead. Considerable spraying has been done, also, in Wyoming and 
Steuben Counties. 
However, taking the State as a whole, a very small part of 
the crop in 1904 was sprayed. In the northern part of the State 
(Franklin and Clinton Counties) potato spraying is practically 
untried. ‘At Chateaugay, one of the largest potato-shipping points 
in the State, no spraying of any importance has ever been done. 
Scattered all over the State are many other localities in which 
little or no attention has been given to spraying. Here and there 
are found potato growers who spray regularly and are enthusias- 
tic over the results. Some others have experimented with it more 
or less and are yet in doubt as to whether it pays. But it is prob- 
able that in the majority of New York potato fields spraying has 
not even been tried. 
The prospect for 1905 is encouraging. There seems to be a 
widespread interest in the subject. Many farmers who have 
never before sprayed are planning to do so the coming season. 
On Long Island, the Riverhead Farmers’ Club has ordered five 
tons of blue vitriol to be used for spraying potatoes. No doubt 
this unusual interest in potato spraying is chiefly due to the 
heavy losses caused by blight and rot during the past three 
years. Should the season of 1905 be a dry one so that blight is 
_not severe and the returns for spraying are small it is likely that 
interest will again lag and spraying be abandoned in 1906. We 
