242 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



the amount can be roughly estimated by a comparison of its 

 leaf surface with that of one of these ; For apple-trees, one 

 and one-half to two gallons to a good-sized tree ; for grape- 

 vines, one gallon to six or eight well-grown vines ; for 

 potatoes, one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five gal- 

 lons per acre. 



A Caution. — Certain observations of the writer and cer- 

 tain well-known incidents in the fruit trade during the past 

 season show that the use of fungicides, like every other 

 good thing, may be carried to extremes by inexperienced or 

 incautious beginners or by over-zealous friends. It is un- 

 deniably true that the free use of copper preparations has 

 been recommended far too promiscuously and too incon- 

 siderately in certain quarters for every fungous ill which 

 vegetable "flesh is heir to." It is, or ought to be, self- 

 evident that, on plants whose foliage is to be eaten, like 

 lettuce, these preparations should never be used. On plants 

 like the potato, which are cultivated for subterranean parts, 

 their use is perfectly safe ; while to fruit-trees and vines the 

 Bordeaux mixture, at least, should not be applied after the 

 fruit has begun to ripen. If, from its nature or through 

 favoring conditions, a disease makes its appearance after the 

 ■ fruit has begun to color, much can be done to prevent its 

 spread by removal of diseased parts and rigid hygienic pre- 

 cautions. But, from the point of view of profit and loss 

 alone, it is not worth while to save a crop to be seized by 

 some vigilant board of health, which can afford to err only 

 on the side of safety. Our present methods of treatment, 

 while sufficient and unobjectionable for certain cases, must 

 be regarded as only temporary and for the present better 

 than nothing, in many other cases. For many diseases our 

 only remedy yet known is quite as bad as the disease, and it 

 is not to be expected that public sentiment will long tolerate 

 the use of poisonous insecticides and fungicides where such 

 •use involves any possible danger. 



Some Experiences. — The responses to the ofiers of 

 assistance contained in this bulletin, while not so numerous 

 as they should have been, were yet encouraging. They 

 show that our most progressive farmers and gardeners are 

 beginning to appreciate what this vlepartment is glad to do 



