New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 23.'3 



the phelps experiment. 



Conducted by J. A. Page, Phelps, IST. Y. Fourteen acres of 

 potatoes (in three fields) were sprayed four times. The spraying 

 was done with a two-horse, five-row Brown sprayer carrying one 

 nozzle per row. In each field there was a check of five rows. At 

 one side of each check a strip of five rows was double-sprayed. 

 Tip burn was severe in both fields and in the west field there was 

 also a little early blight, but there was no late blight and few flea 

 beetles. Bugs were kept under control by two applications of 

 arsenate of lead. In the east field spraying made little if any 

 difference in the appearance of the foliage, but in the west field 

 a contrast between sprayed and unsprayed rows was noticeable. 



The expense of spraying was as follows : 



250 lbs. copper sulphate (ft 5 cts 



2^2 bbls. lime (d $1.50 



210 lbs. arsenate of lead @ 8 cts 



40 lira, labor for man and team @ 35 cts 



Wear of sprayer 



Total 



In the east field the rows were 674 feet long by 3 feet wide. 

 Double-sprayed rows yielded at the rate of 108.6 biL, single- 

 sprayed rows 87.6 bu. and check rows 98.4 bu. per acre. In the 

 west field the rows were 1757 x 3 ft. Dougle-sprayed rows 

 yielded at the rate of 123.9 bu., single-sprayed rows 109.4 bu. 

 and check rows 96.4 bu. per acre. 



Hence, single-spraying gave a loss of 10.8 bu. in the east field 

 and a gain of 13 bu. per acre ii> the west field, making an average 

 gain of 1.1 bu. per acre. Double-spraying gave a gain of 10.2 bu. 

 in the east field and 27.5 bu. in the west field, making an average 

 gain of 18.8 bu. per acre. 



Potatoes being worth 70 cts. per bushel, single-spraying re- 

 sulted in a loss of $3.39 per acre while double-spraying gave an 

 average net profit of $4.84 per acre. 



