68 



\\{\>\\ (. \Ki)i:\i\(i, 



Knmi thr juvlimiiiarN trials il ai>]H-ar(<l that, 

 wlu'ii ai»|>lif(l witli n-asunaltlc care, (his tliiid was 

 capahli' of ((imiilctfly \vcttiii<i and kiUin^' the 

 miUh'W. and tliat at thr same time il caused ii<> 

 xon-hiii;: or dcfoiiit ion iiid no disliL'uniiicMt of 

 the foliajic or fruit . 



Thr i)h>ntation trrati-d roMsistrd of ltu>hrs of 

 Whiiili.im's liid\istr.\ and l\rr]»sakr. and was 

 sitwatrtl l(i(t yards or niorr from tin- next phuita 

 tion of i^oostdu-rrirs. in which the disi-ase als<t 

 occnrrcd. The luithreak a]tiH'ared in May. and 

 l>y tiir l>c«;iniiin|i of .lunr tlir Ix-rries and yonnt' 

 shoots of the Wliinh.iiiis and tlic younji sl\ool> 

 of the Keejisakes were freely attacked. Thr 

 fruit «»f tlie former variety was largely covered 

 witli the summer staj^e and remained un<iathered 

 on the husht-s throuj^hout tlu- course of the e.\ 

 jH-riment. When tlie disease appeared to he at 

 its lieijzht ahout the michUe of .lunr llir siirax 

 was a])|)lied. eaie hein^' taken to uci 1 hr whole 

 of the hu.shes thorou;jhly. .\ii exaniinali n of 

 the diseased shoots and Ixrries a few d lys lairr 

 showed that the ])r()duetion of new roiiiilid had 

 (•eased, and that the funirus originally |u(sriii 

 had a])))arently heen killed completely. 



It had originally been intended to spray ihr 

 huslies again at intervals during the remainder 

 of the summer : but. except for a very slight new- 

 outbreak on a few of the .siioots of the outer- 

 most l)u.slies of the Whinhams plot, no further 

 growth, of the mildew occurred. It was. there- 

 fore, considered mniecessary to give any fiiithei- 

 spraying. 



There was no damage done by the s])ray lluid 

 to the bushes ex(e])t in the case of a few Kee])- 

 sake plants, whicli received the last portion of 

 the fluid. Ill tliis instance s:onie scorching 

 apjK'ared. and was evidently caused by too great 

 a concentration of emulsion owing to lack of 

 agitation in the kna])sack machines used. On 

 the few shoots which eventiuilly showed the 

 living "summer stage." the "'winter stage "" 

 api^eared also in due course. \'ery few prrilhrcid 

 weie formed, and in none of tliose exainiurd 

 were ri])e s])ores observed. 



Tlie criHcal test of the experiment is. of course, 

 the ica])pearance of the disease and the time of 

 the o\itbreak tiiis summer. As to this, nothing 

 can yet be .said, but the ex])riinirnt last year 

 rritaiidy serves to show that the liver of 

 sul])hur-soft -soap-paraffin emulsion is ca])ableof 

 dra.stically reducing the amount of the "" summer 

 stage "" in an affected plantation and. ])rovided 

 that the spraying is administered as may be 

 necessary, also of correspondingly curtailing the 

 production of the '" winter .stage." Further than 

 this conclusion it Avould be at jiresent unwise to 



go- 



It is probable tliat the character of the 

 weather last .season and the heavy crop of berries 

 carried by the bushes prevented the formation 

 of the succulent young shoots on thr bushes 



which are mainl> the <d>ject of aiiai k. and tiial 

 the s])ri'ad of the di.sease fioin the fru shoots 

 whiih bore living oniiiiitt .after the s|)raying wuk 

 ac<<udingly hindered. On this accoui t no satis- 

 factory <(in<lusion can yet l)e drawn as to the 

 nundu r of sprayin;.'s reipiired to kee]) the 



suninur stage" imder <'oritrol Trials in a 

 plantation of y(unig. vigonnisly giow ing bushes 

 are re(piired for this ])uri)o.se. 



Thr cost of thr mixture at pre war price per 

 1(M> .'al. works out as follows : 



.S.ill Sn;i|.. -JO |l>. ;il 1 |>. |)c|- cw 1 . . 2 <> 



I'aiallin (.Solar I >i-1 illat.). 2 u'al. al 7.1. I L' 

 Livrr-of-Sul|)lnii'. .; ', II.. at s.l. . . li I 



Tol.d 



It sh 



i| hr icnirnilH led. howc\cr. that owing 

 io ii.~. good wrding ])owrr less .solntion is used 

 ]»rr i)usli than would otherwise be the ease. 

 Willi soft water I.") Ih. of soft soa]) i)er 1(H) gal. 

 would be am])l\ >iil'lirii'nt . thus reducing the 

 price to ."■)s. 4(1. per KM) gal. 



.\s to thr nnxturr itself, it is brlirxcd that 

 w here 1 hr t real iiiriit of t hr " suunurr stage "of 

 iiiildrw l>y a hitting' lluid is conceriu-d. the 

 rin])loynienl of a wetting lluid of the parallin 

 emulsion type is essential, and. so far as trials 

 to date go. none a])pr()aehes the 2 ])er cent, soft- 

 soa])-paraflin emulsion for elTeclixcness and 

 chea])ness cond)inrd. The rhoirr of an active 

 fungicide to su])plemenl the toxic ])ro])erties of 

 this emulsion is still an o])en (piestion. as indeed 

 is the need for the inclusion of such a substance. 

 Liver-of-sul])hur was selected, to .sonu' degree 

 arbitraiily. for th(> exi)eriments which have been 

 descrilx'd. and appears to have acted very suc- 

 cessfully : 1)111 fnrthri' work may well show that 

 there arr brttrr fungiridrs for the i)ur])()se. In 

 this connection il will be interesting to test in 

 its ])lace aunnoniuni sulphide, ihe substance 

 which has ])roved so promising in ihe experi- 

 ments of Messrs. Kyre and Salmon. It seems 

 p()ssil)le that the effective results with the latter 

 fungicide may have been due not only to its 

 action in the form of a " hitting " spray but in 

 l)art to itsdec()m]K)sitiou into volatile suV)stances. 

 which acted in a gaseous condition ujuui the 

 fungus. Where "" vapour- " tri'almenl is con- 

 cerned the wetting ])roi)erties of the lluid applied 

 are not so vital, and 1 ])er cent, or less of soft 

 soa]) in the mixture niiglit tlu-n l)r adecpiate for 

 effective distribiu ion. 



It remains to l)e added that the liver-of- 

 sulphur-soft-soap-paraltin mixture ])robably pos- 

 sesses very limited protective properties against 

 reinfection, and that renewed infection from 

 outside sources can doubtless occur freely, even 

 although the fluid may completely clear the 

 ])lantation under treatment from the original 

 " summer-.stage " attack. — Journal of the Board 

 of Agriculture, March, 1910. 



