ntage of the germination of
seeds. On all of these points we are accumulating considerable
information that it is hoped may be of some practical value."--Journal
of Heredity.

Spraying the Orchard.

HON. H. M. DUNLAP, SAVOY, ILLS.

I don't know whether I am out of place with this topic of mine or not
with a Minnesota audience, but I came through the exhibit rooms as I
came up to the hall, and whether you spray or not you certainly need to,
for I saw all sorts of fungous diseases upon your fruit. I presume that
these are not the poorest specimens you have--very few people, you know,
bring the poorest specimens they have to an exhibition place, Mr.
President, and I presume that if these are the best you have the poorest
must be pretty bad in the way of fungous diseases.

Of course, people don't like to have their faults told them, but if we
have anything the matter with us it is best for us to find out what the
matter is and then get rid of it. It is better than to do as many did in
the commercial fruit-growing states a number of years ago about the San
Jose scale, those that were interested in having that fact suppressed,
or at least thought they were interested in having the fact suppressed
that they had San Jose scale within the confines of their state. They
didn't want that information to get out, so they didn't discuss the
matter of San Jose scale in their societies.

In Illinois we took a different view of that proposition, and it was,
that we had the San Jose scale and we thought the thing to do was to
stamp it out, to get after it. So we agitated that subject in our
society and talked about it. We had the state entomologist canvass the
entire state to find out where the San Jose scale was doing its work and
gave him authority to go in and spray those places or cut down the trees
and get them out of the way. The effect of that work is very evident.

The people of other states would point to us saying that they did not
have the scale but that we had because we reported the fact, but I know
they now have it a great deal worse than we do because of this neglect.

In this matter of spraying and spraying materials, if we go back in
history--we have to look for truth wherever we find it, whether it comes
from low or high sources. As a matter of fact thieves and sheep ticks
and ignorance are largely responsible for our spraying and the spraying
materials of today. It doesn't sound very well in a scientific