EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS. 323 



nearly four times as great as the liquid. It may be that future tests 

 will show that a greater number of dustings must be made than spray- 

 ing and whether with the great difficulty in securing labor, it will not 

 be more economical even if there is a somewhat larger percentage of 

 scabby fruit. 



A test has been started to determine the comparative value of the 

 self-boiled lime sulphur as a protection from the ordinary peach dis- 

 eases, and the dusting. This is being made at Bangor. 



Experiments in spraying raspberries to protect them against the com- 

 mon disease known as Anthracnose, that have been carried on at Eaton 

 Rapids in 1914 and 1915, are now being made at Leslie and at this time, 

 favorable results are apparent from the use of commercial lime-sulphur, 

 one part to 20 parts of water, made when the bushes are dormant. 



Comparative tests of several commercial preparations for the spray- 

 ing of apple orchards were used, together with home-made standard 

 preparations and the commercial lime-sulphur and arsenate of lead. 

 None of these patented commercial materials were as satisfactory as 

 the home-made materials or the ordinary commercial lime-sulphur. Many 

 of them were ineffective, caused injury to fruit or foliage and were hard 

 and disagreeable to prepare. 



Potato spraying experiments were continued but since the crop was 

 exceedingly small, no definite or reliable results were secured. 



An experiment in the spraying of grapes was carried out at Paw Paw. 

 The idea was to try and determine if something cheaper and as satis- 

 factory as copper sulphate could be used. Owing to the very high price 

 of the copper sulphate in 1916, this was desirable. The tests included 

 Bordeaux mixture at various strengths, ammoniacal copper carbonate 

 and several patented compounds and also a number of different sprays. 

 The results show decidedly that the Bordeaux mixture sprays were the 

 best and the one made with 4 pounds of copper sulphate, 4 pounds of 

 lime to 50 gallons of water and applied four times was the best of all. 



The experiments to determine the value of preserving fruits and vege- 

 tables by freezing at a low temperature have shown that it is possible 

 to hold several kinds of fruit in good condition. Nearly all of the 

 smaller fruits, such as cherries, currants, gooseberries and raspberries, 

 have been preserved very well. Strawberries which had been frozen 

 were not desirable. The quality of sweet corn after freezing was not 

 very good. The corn was rather watery and not very sweet. Frozen 

 asparagus when cooked was dark, tough and strong. Cooking tests were 

 made by Professor Mary Edmonds of the Domestic Science department. 

 Experiments were carried on in 1915 and 1916 to determine how long 

 freshly cut asparagus can be held in temperatures above 32 degrees Fah- 

 renheit. It was kept in good condition for two or three weeks when set 

 in water. The most desirable temperature is probably a few degrees 

 above freezing, 35 to 38 degrees. 



A patented peach tree borer protector that fitted around the base of 

 the peach tree with the idea of making it impossible for the borers to 

 work into the trunk of the tree was tested out in the peach orchard at 

 Morrice. They were placed on the trees in June, 1916. They have kept 

 the trees free from the borers where the cemented joints of the pro- 

 tectors were not broken open by the growth of the trees but about one- 

 third of them have been broken open in this way. There was practically 



