New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 383 



four rows received the spray from two nozzles. Thus, four rows 

 were sprayed at each passage. One man (an ordinai'y farm 

 laborer) worked the pump and did the driving. This same man 

 prepared the Bordeaux mixture and did all work connected with 

 the spraying. The water used in the Bordeaux mixture was 

 obtained at a faim-house which was 40 rods from the nearest 

 point of the field. Therefore, it was necessary to haul the water 

 from 40 to 88 rods. The Bordeaux mixture was prepared at the 

 farmhouse and taken to the field in the spray-barrel. 



Expense of the spraying. — The items of expense are as follows: 



240 pounds copper sulphate at 4i^ cents per pound ^10 80 



Freight on 240 pounds copper sulphate 25 



1 barrel unslaked lime 1 40 



Carting sulphate and linio from railroad station 50 



Potassium ferrocyanide - 10 



25 pounds Paris green at 20 cents per pound 5 00 



44 hours labor for man at 15 cents per hour C 60 



44 hours labor for horse at 15 cents per hour 60 



Total !1^31 25 



This $31.25 covers all labor and cost of chemicals but does not 

 include any allowance for the wear of machinery. The latter, 

 however, is a part of the necessary expense of spraying and must 

 be taken into consideration; but the amount can only be esti- 

 mated. Considering that the first cost of the spraying outfit, 

 exclusive of the cart, was less than $25, and that it was in use 

 only about one-tenth of the time it might have been used, it would 

 seem that |3 is sufficient to allow for the wear of the machine. 

 Three dollars added to |31.25 (cost of labor and chemicals) makes 

 tlie total expense of spraying 8.58 acres, $3^.25; or the total expense 

 of spraying one acre five times, $J/ : or the total expense per acre for 

 each spraying, 80 cents. 



Any farmer can spray potatoes as cheaply as this, provided he 

 goes about it in the right way and is not obliged to haul water 

 too far. The ease with which water can be obtained has an 

 important bearing on the expense of spraying. Where water can 

 be obtained easily and does not require hauling more than a few 



