Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 February 1916 — IF YOU WANT FRUIT YOU MUST SPRAY TREES [ARTICLE]

IF YOU WANT FRUIT YOU MUST SPRAY TREES

The Time to Begin First Campaign Against Insect Pests Is In February. The season is at hand when the first of the year’s spraying mu't be begun. The campaign against scale insects is generally waged in February, and even now is in progress in various sections of the state. The orchardist, of course, knows his business and needs no instruction in what to do and how to do it, and no urging to do it. But the average farmer who makes no specialty of fruit raising, who has only a small orchard from which he hopes to obtain fruit enough for his own needs, is inclined to give little if any attention to spraying. It seems to him hardly Worth while. But it is worth wihle. If the trees are worth anything at all they are worth spraying. Spraying means healthy trees and better trees. There is Lmall excuse nowadays for anyone to be taken in by the fakir. There is an easy and cheap way to guard against him. When he appears, have him tell what he proposes to do, and then, if any doubt as to the futility of l*is plan remains in the owner’s mind, the doubt can be dispelled by referring the matter to the state entomologist. But fear of the fakir and a general suspicion of sprays should not interfere with spraying. There are plenty of reliable sprayers- andreliable sprays available at fair prices.