III. Some Novel Insecticides and Fungicides. 



Various substances have been sent to this station for the purpose of 

 having them tested in regard to their value as insecticides and 

 fungicides, and other materials have been suggested by growers who 

 believed that beneficial results have followed their use. In addition to 

 these several other substances were applied the past season, both singly 

 and in combination, in the hope that something might be found that 

 would prove of value. Some of the substances compared had already 

 been used at this station * in similar experiments ; those materials 

 which appeared most jiromising in 1891 were tested a second time this 

 year. But in the majority of cases it was not known what would be 

 the action of the substance upon foliage, so many of the formulas used 

 are not necessarily the best ones for the proper action of the materials 

 mentioned in them. Some applications were too weak and others 

 decidedly too strong, but all indicated more or less distinctly their 

 value as fungicides or insecticides. Many of the materials were 

 believed to possess caustic properties and to these lime was added. 

 The lime was slacked in a small quantity of water, and required 

 amounts of this milk of lime were used. The ajsplications were, as a 

 rule, prepared immediately before being used. 



All liquids were applied with a knapsack pump manufactured by 

 W. <fc B. Douglass, of Middletown, Conn., and a vermorel nozzle with 

 lance. Powders were applied by means of Josten's magazine bellows. 



Difficulty was experienced in making a uniform application of 

 those mixtui'es which contained much sediment. This was particularly 

 noticeable in the case of the Bordeaux mixture, for this showed very 

 clearly whether it had been applied properly or not. Such mixtures 

 cannot be well agitated in a knapsack pump, so generally the first 

 applications contain the material in a more concentrated form than later 

 ones. As only small quantities of the various mixtures were applied 

 no serious variations took place in the following experiments. 



The following are the kinds of plants treated. When but one 

 variety was used the name is given here; in other cases the name of 



* Cornell Experimental Station, Bulletin No. 35, December, 1891, 



37 



