Vermont State HoRTicutTURAt Society. 33 



As the Bordeaux mixture is practically the only fungicide 

 emplo}-ed by Vermont fruit or potato growers, it is for that 

 reason given precedence over all others. It has seemed to the 

 writer that aside from the causes previously mentioned, as regards 

 fruit trees, that there are three main reasons why spraying is 

 not more practised than at the present time : ( i ) owing to 

 inadequate facilities for preparing the spray mixture; (2) to 

 inefficient pumps and nozzles; (3) as a result of the foregoing 

 deficiencies, and oftentimes to an improperly made mixture, 

 the benefits derived are not sufficiently apparent to justify a con- 

 tinuance of spraying. The remedy for these objectionable 

 features, while evident, is in many cases not easily overcome. 



For the past two seasons the horticultural department has 

 been engaged in an attempt to simplify the process of making 

 Bordeaux mixture^ or, at least if not to simplify it,, to render it 

 feasible to make a perfect spray mixture with as little labor as 

 possible. The result of this effort culminated last season in a 

 system which in principle at least is considered quite satisfac- 

 tory. At the outset the two main objects in view were to reduce 

 the labor of preparing the Bordeaux and to insure as perfect 

 a spray mixture as possible. 



The Gravity System — To lessen the labor of preparing the 

 material the first thing to avoid was that of lifting the solutions. 

 To obviate this a lean-to shed was made to serve as a support 

 to a two-tier platform,, the lower of which was of sufficient 

 height to allow of filling the mounted spray tank, from the 

 mixing vessel setting upon it, by means of gravity. All vessels 

 used were of wood and consisted entirely of barrels. On the 

 upper platform was placed the stock solution and dilution barrels, 

 the former in rear of the latter. The stock solutions were made 

 so that each gallon of the solution represented one pound of 

 the copper sulphate or of the lime. The formula used in making 

 up the Bordeaux was that known as the i-io formula, that is, 

 one pound of copper sulphate and one of lime to every ten 

 gallons of water. Hence in making up fifty gallons of Bord- 

 eaux, all that was necessary was to transfer five gallons of each 

 of the stock solutions to the dilution barrels, and fill them up with 

 water to the twenty-five gallon mark. Each of the dilution 

 barrels was provided with a faucet so placed as to remove all 

 liquid from the barrel. The barrels were turned so as to bring 

 both faucets close enough to each other to discharge in a pipe 

 connected with the mixing barrel on t^e lower platform and 

 into which it passed through a strainer. In the same way the 



iThe Seventeenth Annual Kep't Vt. Agr. Exp. Sta., 1904, pp. 440-442, contains 

 essentially the same statements regarding the gravitj> system and stock solutions as 

 lb presented below. 



