40 THE BITTER ROT OF APPLES. 



SPRAYING WITH FUNGICIDES. 



Prior to 1887, at a time when the bitter rot had already a wide dis- 

 tribution, no attempts seem to have been made to control the disease. 

 Gallowav said (1887): " With our present limited knowledge of its hab- 

 its, it is impossible to suggest means for combating it." Two years 

 later the same writer suggested spraying the fruit trees with sulphuret 

 of potassium when the apples were about half grown, and repeating 

 the operation every two or three weeks throughout the summer. In 

 a brief note during the same year (1889) Galloway referred to some 

 experiments made by Beach in 1888 with sulphuret of potassium, in 

 which he stated that "Mr. Beach has full confidence in the remedy." 

 Galloway (1889) reported some tests made with potassium sulphide and 

 ammoniacal copper carbonate by Curtiss. A good many apples were 

 saved by the spraying, little difference being noted in the results 

 accomplished by the use of the two solutions mentioned. 



Chester (1K90) sprayed with potassium sulphide, liver of sulphur, 

 and ammonium copper carbonate without decided success. 



Garman (1894) published an account of -a series of experiments to 

 control diseases of apples with Bordeaux mixture. In his general sum- 

 mary he states: 



The proportion of rotting to nonrotting apples was in every case lessened by spray- 

 ing, and we are in a position to say, as a result of these experiments, that spraying 

 with Bordeaux mixture will save from rotting from 7| per cent to 31fc per cent of the 

 whole number of apples. * * * The spraying increased the yield of usable apples 

 from a little lens than twofold to nearly sevenfold. 



From the beginning of the nineties to the present time a number of 

 experiments in spraying have been made by several persons, notably 

 Alwood (1892, 1894), Stinson (1892, 1894, 1896, 1901, and 1902), 

 Whitten (1895), Clinton (1902), Staubenraueh (1902), Burrill and Blair 



(1902, a and b). 



Without going into details, it may be said that the results reached 

 were favorable in some cases, but not so successful in others. 

 Alwood (1894) states: 



Our results with Bordeaux mixture and ammonia copper carbonate, as recom- 

 mended in bulletins mentioned above, are very satisfactory. 



Whitten (1895) says: 



Bitter rot began first on unsprayed trees and developed more extensively than on 

 sprayed trees. Bitter rot was less on trees sprayed with the 6-pound solution (of 

 Bordeaux mixture) than on those sprayed with the weaker solutions. 



Stinson (1896) says: 



There was much less bitter rot on the sprayed fruit than on the unsprayed. From 

 the results obtained it was concluded that the injury can be partly prevented with 

 three sprayings with Bordeaux mixture. 



From a careful study of the results obtained up to 1900, it was 

 evident that, although it had been shown that the disease could be 



