Crop Dusting 1956

Photograph courtesy of Gregory Heiskell Desmond

Leon Emo Sr., one of the founders of Cal-Air Dusters of Madera, was photographed by Jack G. Desmond in 1956 spraying a section of Adobe Ranch, north of the Fresno River, which was leased to Frank G. Desmond & Sons Farming. The crop duster, flying just feet above the ground, is spraying 2, 4-D herbicide on wild mustard and radish.

The exploits of Cal-Air Dusters are described in a Madera Tribune article, Crop dusting in Madera County: the early years.

Leon’s son, Leon E. Emo, wrote a book called Black Hearts, Golden Wings, a work of fiction set against the daredevil days of crop dusting in 1950s Madera.