26 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



fruit growers' banquet — the Orleans County Fruit Growers' Banquet — 

 a few months ago, at which there Avere nearly two thousand fruit growers 

 present. Some came in automobiles and fine carriages, and they were all 

 happy and pleased and in good spirits; as I talked with them I found many 

 of them had anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 barrels of apples at S3 and S4 

 a barrel, with peaches and plums and other fruit this year; they were rolling 

 in wealth. It made me want to become an actual fruit grower; and I am 

 sure you who have gone through some of these prosperous fruit seasons in 

 Michigan in times past can rejoice with these New Yorkers who are rejoic- 

 ing in a prosperous season this year. 



Your secretary has asked me to talk this afternoon on Bordeaux injury. 

 It is not a subject that appeals to me, and I am afraid it is not going to appeal 

 to you here, because there is nothing constructive about it; it is, in a way, 

 sort of destructive; and besides, it is simply technical; and so I ask you to 

 bear with me for a brief period while I discuss this matter of Bordeaux injur^^ 



You have been hearing so much about so many good things about Bordeaux 

 mixture and the necessity of spraying and the relative value of Bordeaux 

 mixture and any other spraying solution that can be used, that I sujDpose 

 it is a matter of some surprise, and it is a matter of regret to all to know 

 that Bordeaux mixture is capable at times of doing considerable injury. 

 It is not to be wondered at, however; it is only 15 or 20 years since we began 

 spraying at all, and we know comparative!}^ little about the effects of mixtures 

 that we have to use upon fruit; and there are a good many minor details 

 that have never been worked out. When you come to think we scarcely 

 know what the chemical composition of Bordeaux mixture is, and that it 

 changes with weather conditions and the manner in which it is made, and 

 all that, it is not to be wondered at that varying conditions may and do 

 cause some injury. 



Then, too, when we first began the use of the Bordeaux mixture there was 

 some doubt as to whether it would do any good, and with most fruit growers 

 a lick and a promise was sufficient, and a dash of Bordeaux mixture was 

 all that the trees got, and there wasn't much chance for injury in the early 

 days of si:)raying; but as time went on and fruit growers began to see that 

 they could control the fungi of the various fruits by the application of Bor- 

 deaux mixture, the}^ began to put it on rather more plentifully, and with 

 the advent of the power sprayers and the greater use of this and other 

 mixtures, some injury began to show from the too great use of this mixture 

 in particular. 



From the very first, from the first workers, the first man to demonstrate 

 the value of Bordeaux mixture noted ? ome slight injuries that came from 

 it on certain fruits. For instance, it has never been possible to spray peaches 

 with any great degree of safety; it has never been possible to spray Japanese 

 plums with safety; and there have always been some injuries on sweet cherries 

 and on the quince; and some slight injuries have been noted by all workers 

 on apples and pears; but seemingly within the last five years the injury 

 has become very considerable. My attention was called to it about six 

 years ago when spraying at the Michigan Agricultural College, and I began 

 some experiments there to determine just what Bordeaux mixture or spray 

 injury is, and how it can be prevented. The experiments were not carried 

 on largely, however, and I could arrive at no definite conclusions as to what 

 caused the injury, nor how it could be prevented. Upon going to Geneva 

 in Western New York two years ago last August I found that was one of 

 the things worrying the apple grower more than any other one thing. A 



