148 PEACH LEAF CURL: ITS NATURE AND TREATMENT. 



sulphate for work such as here discussed are those composed wholly 

 of wood, preferably of oak, and may be in the form of barrels, casks, 

 vats, or tanks, of a capacity corresponding to the respective needs of 

 the growers. For small orchards a few good oak barrels of 45 or 60 

 gallons capacity are very suitable. As concentrated solutions of cop- 

 per suli^hate can be made, enough of the sulphate can be easily dis- 

 solved in a 60-gallon barrel to serve for 300 or even 1,200 gallons of 

 spray when properly reduced. It is well, when possible, to use 2 

 gallons of water to each pound of sulphate when dissolving the latter, 

 but stock solutions may be of two to four times this strength. A 

 solution of copper sulphate is heavier than water, so that it is an 

 advantage in hastening the dissolving process to retain the chemical 

 near the top of the water. If this can be done, the heavier copper 

 solution will settle to the bottom of the barrel, leaving the purer 

 water to continue the dissolving action upon the sulphate. The 

 placing of the copper in a gunny sack and suspending the latter in 

 the water has been recommended, but it is thought that other means 

 more suitable may be found. The use of sacks or other cloths about 

 the spray tanks is hardly advisable, as the freer the tanks are kept 

 from lint, strings, fibers, etc., arising from straining cloths, sacks, 

 frayed staves, and stirring sticks, the less trouble the sprayer will 

 have with his nozzles in the orchard, and the better, quicker, and 

 cheaper can the spray work be done. 



Instead of a sack, a clean willow or hard-wood splint basket may be 

 used for suspending the chemicals. A box may also be easily made 

 for the purpose. It should have a diameter, when about 1 foot 

 deep, sufficient to hold the copper sulphate to be dissolved, and it 

 should be open at the top, with strong 1-inch slats across the bottom, 

 the latter to be set one-fourth inch apart. If the box be fitted with 

 a strong hoop bail it may be suspended in the barrel by placing a stick 

 through the bail and across the top of the barrel. As a rule, how- 

 ever, the writer has found it sufficient to place the copper sulphate 

 directly in the bottom of a good oak barrel, filling the latter one-third 

 to one-half full of water, and stirring and crushing the crystals with a 

 clean hard-wood pounder. A half hour's work is sufficient to dissolve 

 many pounds of copper sulphate in this manner. With three or four 

 good barrels one man can thus keep a large spraying gang supplied 

 with material, if the water be convenient. It is always an advantage 

 to place the copper in water in the barrels over night, when possible, 

 as sufficient material is thus easily made ready in the morning for a 

 half day's spraying. It is an advantage to strain all water before the 

 copper sulphate is added, as afterwards ordinary strainers are liable 

 to be injured by the acid, and, as before stated, the use of cloth 

 strainers is not advisable. 



The eyes and hands should be protected as much as possible from 



