TE^ YEARS OF POTATO SPRAYING,"- 



F. H. HALL. 



For ten successive years in the present series 

 Potato ^f experiments, this Station has tested potato 



^" J , , sprayine; as a regular operation in the culture 



profitable , , . X ■ , r. 



oractice ^^ crop. On its grounds at (jreneva a 



profitable increase has been secured in each 

 year of the ten; spraying three times during the season has re- 

 sulted in an average increase of 69 bu. to the acre, and spraying 

 every two weeks (5 to 7 times) has increased the yield of mer- 

 chantable tubers 97^/^ bu. to the acre. In the duplicate series at 

 Eiverhead, Long Island, the gains have not been so great, owing 

 partly to lighter soil and adverse climatic conditions. In only 

 two years of the ten, however, was there a failure to secure a nice 

 profit from the operation; while the average for the ten seasons 

 is an increase of 25 bu. from three sprayings and 45% bu. from 

 the fortnightly applications of the bordeaux. 



As five of the ten years have been notably dry seasons, unfavor- 

 able to the development of blight and rot, and, consequently, not 

 adapted to showing the benefit from spraying, it is believed that 

 this series of tests proves beyond a shadow of doubt that potato 

 growers in New York State should make spraying with bordeaux 

 mixture a regular operation in their scheme of culture. 



The results secured in the Station tests are confirmed by a nine- 

 year series of farmers' business experiments, in which records 



*This is a reprint of "Popular Edition" of Bulletin No. 349; see p. 209 

 for the Bulletin. 



[831] 



