228 Report of the Botanical Department of the 



the lancaster experiment. 



Conducted by F. W. Handy, Lancaster, N. Y. Six acres of 

 potatoes were sprayed four times (July 31, Aug. 7, 16 and 24) 

 with bordeaux mixture, formula 4f-6-50. The spraying was done 

 with a one-horse, four-row " Iron Age " sprayer carrying one noz- 

 zle per row. The potato field was about 100 yards from the water 

 supply. The water was pumped by a gasoline engine. Four 

 rows 664 feet long by 32 inches wide were left unsprayed for a 

 check. Owing to the absence of bugs it was unnecessary to use 

 any poison. On each side of the check a strip of four rows was 

 double-sprayed at each spraying. Apparently, the plants were 

 not injured by blight, yet an occasional rotten tuber was found at 

 digging time. 



The items of expense were as follows: 



150 lbs. copper sulphate @ 5.5 cts $8 25 



200 lbs. lime 80 



24 hra, labor for man and horse @ 25 cts 6 00 



Allowance for wear of sprayer 2 00 



Total $17 05 



Average expense of spraying, $2.84 per acre. 



The test rows yielded as follows : 



Two double-sprayed rows, 811 lbs.= 166.2 bu. per acre. 



Two single-sprayed rows, 714 lbs.= 146.4 bu. per acre. 



Two check rows, 735.5 lbs.= 150.8 bu. per acre. 



Single-spraying resulted in a loss of 4.4 bu. per acre, while 

 double-spraying gave a gain of 15.4 bu. per acre. 



The market price of potatoes being sixty cents per bushel, the 

 total loss per acre from single-spraying was $5.48, while from 

 double-spraying there was a net profit of $3.56 per acre. 



