264 



MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



lorm, as there are occasional years when it does not seem to be very- 

 destructive, but the increased assurance of a crop well warrants its 

 use in those sections. 



At the Vermont Experiment Station in 1892, the crop of potatoes 

 was increased from a total of 99^2 bushels where the tops were not 

 sprayed to a total of 291 bushels where the tops were sprayed. This 

 seems to many almost incredible, but where it is understood that 

 the tops of one plant were completely dried up, while the sprayed 

 plants were fresh and g-reen, some idea may be had of the way the 

 treatment works. It certainly is an extraordinary increase, even for 

 this treatment. This condition is nicely illustrated in Figure 2 

 which has been kindly loaned us by that station. 



Sprayed with Bordeaux mixture. 



Fig. 2. View of sprayed and uuti-eated plats of potatoes 



Not sprayed. 



The Rhode Island Experiment Station increased the potato crop 

 there in 1890 forty-eight per cent, by spraying the foliage. Several 

 other experiment stations have received very satisfactory results in 

 this line. 



Two experiments in this line have been carried on at this station 

 and they have shown a considerable increase in the crop as the 

 result of the application of Bordeaux mixture. In 1888, parallel 

 rows of potatoes, each one hundred feet long, were treated with 

 Bordeaux mixture, and a yield of 180 pounds per row was noted. 

 The untreated rows yielded 143 pounds, showing an increase of 43 

 pounds per 100 feet. This is equal to 104 bushels per acre, or an 

 increase of about twenty-five per cent, as the result of the treatment. 



