366 Report of the Mycologist of the 



four dollars per thousand for the large ones and three dollars per 



thousand for the small ones, giving me more than $260 profit 



from the sprayed vines after the unsprayed vines were dead. 



"I have been growing pickles for the New York market and 



for salting-houses for the past sixteen years; for the first ten 



years the vines grew vigorously and yielded pickles until the 



vines were killed by frost (usually the last of September in this 



section), yielding from 100,000 to 150,000 per acre, which made 



them a very profitable crop. During the last six years the yield 



has been growing less, apparently from some disease unknown 



to us, the disease spreading and becoming more fatal every year. 



Last year, 1896, the crop did iiot pay for the cost of the fertilizer 



and cultivation. Many large growers have ceased to plant them 



and unless a remedy had been found the crop must soon have 



been abandoned here on Long Island. 



*' Yours truly, 



" B. C. COLYER." 

 I 



SPRAYING MUSKMELONS AND WATERMELONS. 



Both muskmelons and watermelons suffer severely from the 

 attacks of downy mildew. There is every reason to believe that 

 Bordeaux mixture, properly applied, will as effectually protect 

 these plants as it does the cucumber. As in the case with the 

 cucumber, the spraying should be commenced when the plants 

 are small and continued at intervals of about ten days until 

 frost. Some of the Bordeaux mixture will, of course, fall upon 

 the melons and spot them, but this will do no harm since the 

 spots can be readily removed, when it is time to market the 

 melons, by rubbing them with a cloth moistened with vinegar. 



In this connection it may be of interest to some to know how 

 the unsightly Bordeaux stains can be removed from the hands. 

 In making and applying Bordeaux mixture one can hardly escape 

 staining the hands badly, especially if the -potassium ferro- 

 cyanide test is used in making the Bordeaux. By washing the 

 hands in vinegar most of the stain can be removed. 



