216 REPORT OF THE BOTANICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE 
INTRODUCTION. 
Does it pay to spray potatoes in New York? Potato grow- 
ers have been asking this question for fifteen years or more. 
It is well known that in seasons when blight is destructive 
spraying will check the- blight and considerably increase the 
vield; but the majority of potato growers have doubted that 
spraying is profitable on the average. They argue that blight 
does not appear every year. In some seasons it causes but 
little if any damage, yet the spraying must be done regularly 
because it is impossible to foretell the appearance of blight. 
The result is that in some seasons spraying is profitable while 
- in others it is unprofitable and they doubt that the aggregate 
gain will pay the expense of spraying for a series of years. 
This Station has set out to find an answer to the above ques- 
tion. The investigation was begun in 1902 and is to be con- 
tinued until 1912. During ten consecutive years numerous 
potato spraying experiments will be made each year and at 
the end of the period the results will be averaged. The experi- 
ments are of three kinds: (1) Station ten-year experiments; 
(2) farmers’ business experiments; (3) farmers’ volunteer 
experiments. The ten-year experiments (two each year) are 
carried out entirely by the Station. The business experiments 
(18 to 15 each year) are conducted by farmers in codperation 
‘ with the Station. The volunteer experiments are carried out 
entirely by farmers. 
Bulletins previously published are: 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
No. 
bo 
1. Potato Spraying Experiments in 1902; 
Potato Spraying Experiments in 1903; 
Potato Spraying Experiments in 1904; 
Potato Spraying Experiments in 1905; 
Potato Spraying Experiments in 1906; 
Potato Spraying Experiments in 1907. 
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