392 State Horticultural Society. 



vat the proper amount of blue vitriol dissolved and diluted to nearly one- 

 half of the amount of mixture you want to make, and when your lime 

 water is all ready pour this vitriol water into your mixing vat, contain- 

 ing the lime water as quickly as possible, stirring the mixture thoroughly 

 the while with a hoe. Made in this way your mixture will be perfect, 

 and you can apply it without any doubt of success, if applied at the right 

 time. 



WHEN TO SPRAY. 



If the vineyard has never been sprayed before, and especially if the 

 grapes have been rotting badly in previous years, I would recornmend 

 that the vineyard, as soon as pruned in the spring, the brush and leaves 

 dragged out and burned and the canes tied up, be thoroughly sprayed 

 with a solution of sulphate of copper — four pounds of copper to fifty 

 gallons of water and no lime. Spray thoroughly the canes and the trunks 

 of the vines, the posts of the trellis and even the ground under the vines, 

 and especially if there be rotted berries lying there. In this spraying 

 and in this one only, you should make the vines and the posts of the 

 trellis dripping wet.- If the vineyard has been successfully sprayed in the 

 past, or if the grapes have not rotted to any serious extent this spraying 

 may be dispensed with, and the first spraying made with the Bordeaux 

 mixture a few days before the vines begin to bloom. Never use the pure 

 vitriol water solution on any plants after the buds begin to open. 



Another spraying should be made with the Bordeaux mixture right 

 after blooming time, when the berries are well set. This spraying, and 

 the one just before blossoming are the most important of all the season, 

 especially this one right after blossoming. If it should be omitted, all 

 others will be of no avail. Other sprayings can be made from ten days 

 to two weeks apart according to the condition of the weather, the more 

 often and the heavier the rains the oftener should the spraying be done, 

 up to about the first of July, in this latitude. If you spray after that date 

 here you will very likely spot your grapes to such an extent as to injure 

 them for market. If thought necessary later spraying can be made with 

 the carbonate of copper and ammonia solution without any danger of 

 spotting the fruit or injuring the vines, and it is almost effective against 

 rot as the Bordeaux mixture. And yet we have had mildew and grape 

 rot here as extensively and in as malignant a form as in any other place 

 in the United States, previous to the timiC we began spraying. In fact 

 to get a good crop of grapes in those days was the exception. Since we 

 began spraying in 1890 we have never lost a crop, and we have never 

 sprayed except as in an experimental way. after the 4th of July. 



