66 BIGGIE ORCHARD BOOK 



will not be necessary to strain the Bordeaux mixture itself. 

 Some very good strainers made of copper are 011 the market and 

 may be obtained from the makers of spray pumps. One of the 

 best, which can be made at home, is in the form of a box. 



In place of the self-boiled mixture, a number of orchardists 

 are trying dilute forms of the concentrated lime-sulphur men- 

 tioned in Chapter VIII. A dilution of one part concentrate to 

 about thirty parts water is thought safe. (For peach trees, the 

 self-boiled mixture is safer, I think.) 



Here is a picture of a disc-shaped spray- 

 ing-rod shield. 'Tis a handy little contriv- 

 ance for preventing- the spray-drip from run- 

 ning- down the rod on to the hands. Can be 

 made of metal or wood, tightly fitted. 



It has been established that in the case of the apple crop, 

 spraying will protect from fifty to seventy-five per cent, of the 

 fruit, which would otherwise be wormy, and that in actual 

 marketing experience the price has been enhanced from $1 to 

 $2.50 per barrel, and this at a cost cf only about ten cents per 

 tree for labor and material. 



In the case of one orchard in Virginia, only one-third of 

 which was sprayed, the result was an increase in the yield of 

 sound fruit in the portion treated, of nearly fifty per cent., and 

 an increase of the value of this fruit, over the rest, of one 

 hundred per cent. The loss from not having treated the other 

 two-thirds was estimated at $2,500. 



It must be remembered that most spraying materials are 

 poisonous and should be so labeled. If ordinary precautions are 

 taken there is no danger, to man or team, attending their appli- 

 cation. The wetting, which can not entirely be avoided, is not at 

 all dangerous, on account of the great dilution of the mixture. 

 Nor is properly sprayed fruit unsafe to eat. 



In large orchards much time may be saved by preparing and 

 keeping on hand separate stock solutions of the lime and copper, 

 instead of constantly making up a new batch. Dissolve forty 

 pounds of copper sulphate in as many gallons of water. A gallon 

 of the solution will thus contain one pound of the copper salt. 

 In a similar way a stock solution of lime may be prepared. Keep 

 both solutions tightly covered and thoroughly stir before dipping 

 from either. It is then a very simple matter to take three gal- 

 lons of the copper solution, four of the lime, and dilute to the 

 requisite amount according to the regulation Bordeaux formula. 



