430 Keport op the Mycologist of the 



One Hundred Thousand Cucumbers from an Acre of Sprayed 



Plants. 



In the spraying experiment against the downy mildew made 

 at Woodbury, Long Island, in 1896, and reported in Bulletin No. 

 119, the protection against the disease was not complete. Toward 

 the close of the season the downy mildew became quite abundant 

 on the sprayed plats. The infection came, of course, from the 

 badly diseased plants in the adjoining rows which had not been 

 sprayed. In practice, no unsprayed rows would be left and it is 

 reasonable to expect even better results than were obtained in 

 that experiment. 



For the purpose of ascertaining to what extent the disease can 

 be controlled when an entire field is sprayed, the following ex- 

 periment was made at Woodbury, on the farm of Mr. R. C. Colyer, 

 the gentleman who cooperated with us in the experiment made 

 in 1896. In a meadow of clover and timothy, equal parts, an 

 exact acre of land was selected. The grass was removed about 

 June 20 and the land immediately plowed and spread with 

 barnyard manure. It was then thoroughly harrowed with a disc 

 harrow and marked out 3^ by 4 feet. Next Mapes' Fruit and 

 Vine fertilizer, 1,000 pounds, was drilled into the rows^ 400 

 pounds of kainit sown on broadcast and the field again har- 

 rowed.* The seed, which was of the variety Early Cluster, was 

 planted June 26th. On account of heavy rains it was necessary 

 to do considerable replanting, some hills being replanted twice, 

 but eventually nearly a full stand was obtained. The acre was 

 sprayed eight times with Bordeaux mixture (l-to-8 formula), ap- 

 plied with a knapsack sprayer. The dates of spraying were as 

 follows: July 22, 30, August 7, 16, 25, September 4, 13, and 20. 

 A killing frost occurred on the night of September 28. 



The cucumbers were contracted to the H. J. Heinz Company, 

 which has a factory at Hicksville, at $1.50 per thousand for the 

 larger ones and 75 cents per thousand for the small ones, or 

 gherkins. Below is the factory record of receipts from the ex- 

 periment acre: 



♦It should not be assumed that the Station recommends this method of manuring. 

 The manuring and preparation of the land were left entirely to the judgment of Mr. 

 Colyer, who was instructed to " put the land in proper condition to grow a good crop 

 of cucumbers." ' 



