356 Report oF THE HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT OF THE 
pollination of the flowers. These teachings have been so gener- 
ally accepted that there is a law on our statute books making 
it a misdemeanor to spray fruit trees when in. bloom because 
the spraying is liable to kill the bees. In certain parts of the 
apple-growing regions in Western New York, there has arisen 
a feeing that better results are to be secured if the trees are 
sprayed when they are in full bloom; and this belief is founded 
upon tests made by practical men. Growers who found it impos- 
sible to complete the spraying before the trees were in bloom 
found that the latter-sprayed trees gave better results. The 
following notes will indicate the origin in Western New York of 
this belief in the efficacy of spraying apple trees when they are 
in full blossom. These notes are given here only for the pur- 
pose of showing how strong the conviction is in some places, 
that spraying in bloom is a good practice, and of explaining 
why the experiment stations have taken up the investigation of 
the subject. 
The beneficial results that are said to follow the spraying of 
fruit trees when they are in bloom were noticed in Western 
New York by an apple-grower of Gasport, in 1898. He had 
planned to spray all his apple trees that year according to spray 
calendar directions, that is, just before the blossoms opened; 
but the extent of his orchard and several unavoidable interrup- 
tions, including rainy weather, prevented him from doing so. 
The result was that part of his trees were sprayed before the 
blossoms opened, part when they were in full bloom, and part 
after the blossoms had fallen. Bordeaux mixture and Paris 
green were used in all cases. A second spraying with the same 
mixture was given after the fruit had set. This grower reported 
that he had by far the largest crop and finest fruit on those trees 
that were sprayed when in full bloom, and that the percentage 
of inferior fruit increased on other trees as they were further 
removed from this period of spraying. In the same year a 
smaller orchard owned by this man was sprayed with Bordeaux 
and Paris green while in full bloom, and again just after the 
fruit had set. It produced a fine crop of fruit, while other 
