94 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



of good stone lime in a little water, and when thoroughly 

 slaked add enough water to make twenty-live gallons. When 

 cool, pour the two solutions together rapidly into a fifty- 

 gallon cask, and stir thoroughly. The turbid, sky-blue 

 mixture which results should be used within twelve hours 

 after it is prepared. 



Another excellent fungicide, especially valuable in cases 

 where the unsightly spotting caused by the use of Bordeaux 

 mixture is to be avoided, is the ammonia solution of copper 

 carbonate. This is prepared by adding to eight parts of 

 water one part of strong ammonia, and suspending in this a 

 quantity of copper carbonate. Within a few hours the 

 ammonia water will have dissolved all that it can of the car- 

 bonate, and it will be of a deep-blue color. Unlike the 

 Bordeaux mixture, this is a perfectly clear solution, and will 

 not clog the finest nozzle. It must be diluted before use 

 with twenty times its volume of water. 



One more liquid fungicide is deserving of mention, — a 

 solution of one pound of potassium sulphide in forty-five 

 gallons of water. This is a cheap fungicide, and in some 

 cases moderately eflfective. The Bordeaux mixture, how- 

 ever, presents certain advantages over any other fungicide. 

 The excess of lime which it contains renders it verj- adhesive, 

 so that a heavy rain is necessary to wash it off" from the foli- 

 age, and usually three treatments only are required during 

 the season. Furthermore, the presence of lime allows of 

 the addition of arsenical insecticides, such as Paris green or 

 London purple ; the arsenite retains its insoluble form, and 

 no burning of the leaves results, while its action as an 

 insecticide is unimpaired, and we have a cheap and eflective 

 combined fungicide and insecticide. This is not true of any 

 solution containing; ammonia. If the arsenite be added to 

 such a solution, it is rendered soluble by the ammonia, and 

 extensive damage to the leaves is sure to result from its 

 application. 



Lastly, the Bordeaux mixture presents one very peculiar 

 property. It has been repeatedly proved that, if the mixture 

 be applied to potatoes, for example, the latter experience a 

 benefit over and above that caused by the prevention of the 

 "mildew" or " rot." Even when no disease is present, the 



