88 The Spraying of Plants. 



discover some efficient remedy, and they did so. The appear- 

 ance in the Central States of the potato beetle and the canker- 

 worm exerted a similar influence on American fanners ; they 

 also were forced to overcome the pests, and the result was as 

 successful as could have been wished. When each country had 

 entered upon the task allotted to it, the next step would natu- 

 rally be a mutual exchange of results that might be beneficial to 

 the other, and such exchanges have taken place. Americans 

 have not been slow to test many of the excellent practices recom- 

 mended by French investigators, but when the methods were 

 once understood they have been adopted in all parts of the 

 land, at least by a few growers, with astonishing rapidity ; and 

 so well has the information regarding these remedies been dis- 

 seminated that no man now has an excuse for not knowing 

 how to treat the large majority of the troubles which affect the 

 plants that he grows. 



Little was known in this country regarding the treatment of 

 fungous diseases of plants by liquid applications previous to 

 1885. Saunders and Goif were the pioneers in the work. The 

 former, 1 in 1884, suggested the use of three fungicides for the 

 treatment of apple scab : Hyposulphite of soda, applied for 

 the first time, in proportion of 1 pound to 10 gallons of water : 

 sulphide of lime, made by boiling 2 pounds of sulphur and 1 

 pound of quicklime in 2 gallons of water, stirring frequently 

 till of a reddish yellow color; after settling, the clear liquid is 

 poured off : a mixture of sulphur and water, in the proportion 

 of 1 pound to 10 or 15 gallons of water. The same remedies 

 were also recommended by Goff for the apple scab and leaf- 

 blight. During the following year he tested the hyposulphite 

 of soda with the result that " in the syringed portion of the 

 tree, the per cent of uninjured fruits was double that in the nn- 

 syringed portion, while the percentage of the third quality, or 

 much injured fruits, was one-half less. It also appears that all 

 of the fruits on the syringed portion were larger in size than 

 those on the unsyringed portion. We also noted that there 

 were many more decayed fruits on the unsyringed portion of 

 the tree." 2 These were the first of innumerable experiments 

 regarding the treatment of the same diseases. 



1 Canadian Horticulturist, 1884, vii. No. 6, 12T. 



2 Ann. Rep. N". Y. State Agric. Exp. Sta. 1885, 260. 



