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SPRAYING FRUITS. 383 
The cost of the treatment as laid down in method A need not exceed 
24 cents per vine. Method B will cost 2 cents and method C the same. 
So far as efficacy is concerned there is little choice. All things con- 
sidered, however, method A will doubtless prove the most satisfactory. 
DOWNY MILDEW OF THE GRAPE. 
When this disease occurs alone, ammoniacal solution or modified eau 
celeste may be used. The first spraying should be made when the fruit 
is well formed, the others at intervals of ten or twelve days as recom- 
mended for black-rot. What is known as brown-rot is caused by the fun- 
gus of downy mildew. It is seldom that brown-rot occurs in the berries 
without the leaves being also effected. In regions where this happens, 
the treatment recommended for black-rot should be followed. 
In some sections eau celeste has been more effective against these dis- 
eases than any of the other fungicides. ‘This is notably the case in north- 
ern Ohio and western New York. Eau celeste, however, sometimes in- 
jures the foliage, and we do not advise its extended use. 
ANTHRACNOSE OF THE GRAPE. 
Use Bordeaux mixture the same as recommended for black-rot under 
method A. 
USE OF COPPER COMPOUNDS FROM A HYGIENIC STANDPOINT. 
Ever since the copper compounds came into general use as fungicides 
the question as.-to their effects, hygienically considered, has received more 
or less attention. With the exception of the New York City Board of 
Health,no positive stand on this question has been taken,so far as we are 
aware. Many vague and misleading statements, however, have from 
time to time appeared in the horticultural and agricultural papers. 
Every one familiar with the situation understands why these rumors, for 
such they can only be considered, are sent out. They are not aimed par- 
ticularly at the practice of spraying, but are simply efforts on the part of 
selfish competitors to cripple the legitimate trade of more energetic and 
wide-awake rivals. 
We take the ground that fruit sprayed with the copper compounds in 
accordance with the directions of the Department is harmless. No better 
proof of this is to be found than that shown by the experience of this 
country. For five years the copper compounds have been used by hund- 
reds and thousands of fruit-growers in every part of the United States, 
yet in all that time not a single authenticated case of poisoning, so far as 
we are aware, has been brought to light. It is true a few individuals 
have claimed that they were made sick by eating sprayed fruit, but in all 
such cases careful investigations have revealed that claims of this kind 
were absolutely without foundation. However, we do not consider these 
general statements sufficient to warrant us in taking the stand as regards 
the harmlessness of the copper compounds when properly used. More di- 
rect testimony is readily obtained and some of this we now propose to 
consider. ‘The question may properly be discussed under two heads 
namely: 
(1) The present condition of our knowledge as regards the toxicology 
of copper; and 
