No. 4.] FUNGOUS DISEASES. 99 



adjunct in increasing profits. The two must go hand in 

 hand, if the best results are to be attained. The up-to-date 

 farmer cannot afford to take any chances. 



Let us look at a few figures representing the results of the 

 practical use of fungicides. A few years ago a circular letter 

 was sent out to the vineyardists of New York, asking for 

 information regarding the prevalence of black rot and the 

 value of spraying. Replies Avere received from 250 growers 

 of grapes. They reported a yield of perfect fruit amounting 

 to 37,000 pounds, valued at $13,000, as the net profit in one 

 season from the use of Bordeaux mixture. The averasfe cost 

 per vine, for four treatments, was stated to be three cents. 

 One grower reported that, of two acres of vines, one spraj^d 

 six times and the other not sprayed, the former gave a yield 

 of 1,750 pounds, valued at $52.50; the unsprayed acre 

 yielded 500 pounds, valued at $15. The total expense of 

 spraying one acre six times, exclusive of the initial cost of the 

 outfit, was $7.25, leaving a net profit of $30.15 per acre as 

 the result of spraying. 



The Vermont Experiment Station has for some years con- 

 ducted experiments in spraying potatoes on a commercial 

 scale, with great though not unusual success. Their results 

 are of special value, from the fact that the work was very 

 carefully done, every item of expense was noted, and the 

 profits were figured out by comparing the yields from two 

 large areas identical in every respect, except that one was 

 sprayed and the other was not. One acre, sprayed three 

 times with strong Bordeaux mixture, yielded 223 bushels of 

 sound potatoes ; an adjacent acre, not sprayed, yielded 110 

 bushels; gain in favor of the sprayed acre, 113 bushels, or 

 103 per cent. At 80 cents per bushel, the gross profit per 

 acre amounted to $90.40. The cost of spraying one acre 

 three times was $4.35, divided as follows : — 



Thirty-six pounds of copper sulphate, at 5 cents, . . . . $1 80 



One barrel of lime, 1 65 



Labor, two men at $1.50 per day, 90 



Total, $4 35 



On this basis the net gain from spraying amounts to $86.05 

 per acre, exclusive of the cost of the outfit. 



