SPRAYING 119 



this purpose and is diluted at the rate of 

 one to five hundred or one to one thou- 

 sand. Even at this great dilution the material 

 is the most offensive spray mixture that I have 

 ever worked with and the workman must use 

 great care to keep it from his eyes. I use it 

 only when absolutely necessary and then with 

 the greatest reluctance. However, it is a val- 

 uable aid in many critical situations and its 

 possibilities should not be overlooked. 



The sulphur solutions have been mentioned 

 both as contact insecticides and as fungicides, 

 but there is another important fungicide which 

 has no relation to the insect problems of the 

 orchardist. This is the ancient and honorable 

 Bordeaux Mixture. For many years we knew 

 no other remedy for the fungous diseases of 

 our fruit and we know none better to-day. Its 

 only objection is that it is troublesome to make 

 and when used on apples is liable, if not almost 

 certain, to cause a severe russeting of the skin 

 and occasionally injury of the foliage. In both 

 of these respects the lime sulphur solution 

 (one to forty) is its superior. It is formed by 

 dissolving four pounds of copper sulphate and 

 four pounds of lime in fifty gallons of water. 

 Ordinarily this is done by the preparation of 

 stock solutions of both lime and copper and 

 adding them to the proper bulk of water. In 

 our practice we have simplified the method a 



