112 REPORT OF THE BOTANICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE 
VOLUNTEER EXPERIMENTS. 
In 1904 the Station began collecting and recording the results of 
potato-spraying experiments made by farmers in all parts of the 
State. As these experiments are carried out entirely by the farm- 
ers themselves we call them volunteer expriments. It is probable 
that, in some cases, the yields, expense of spraying and other data 
given for the volunteer experiments are not as accurate as are those 
given for the farmers’ business experiments. Nevertheless, they 
are valuable. They supplement the regular business experiments. 
By bringing together the results of a large number of business 
experiments and volunteer experiments extending over several 
consecutive seasons the Station hopes to be able to answer definitely 
the question, Does it pay to spray potatoes in New York? We are 
under obligations to the many farmers who have assisted in this 
work and take this opportunity to express our appreciation of their 
services. The experiments are to be continued at least five years 
longer and it is hoped that we may continue to have the hearty 
cooperation of potato growers throughout the State. All who 
spray potatoes with bordeaux mixture are requested to leave a few 
rows unsprayed in order that it may be determined how much the 
yield is increased by spraying. The product of unsprayed and 
sprayed rows adjacent should be weighed or measured and the 
length of the rows measured so that the yields may be accurately 
determined. We cannot use experiments in which the yields have 
been only estimated. Neither can we use experiments in which the 
application of poison to the unsprayed rows has been neglected. 
In 1904, forty-one volunteer potato-spraying experiments were 
reported to the Station and the results published in Bulletin 264; 
while in 1905 fifty experiments were reported and published in Bul- 
letin 279. The following table shows the principal features of the 
sixty-two volunteer experiments reported in 1900: 
