MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 279 



vegetable matter, and even on the more hardy portions 

 of the tree it has a certain effect, and if sufficient quantities 

 reach the parts by single or continued application the 

 injury will appear in due course. 

 /Mr. Barrett when in Trinidad recommended 5.5.50 as 

 the formula for making Bordeaux mixture, without details. 

 A young overseer mixed 5 lb. copper, 5 lb. lime, and 50 lb. 

 of water. The mixture was indeed effective, for it was 

 ten times too strong. It should have been gallons of water 

 instead of pounds. The result of the application need 

 not be discussed further than to say that the young overseer 

 obtained e;xperience of a kind which he has no wish to 

 repeat. / 



Another operator heard of Paris green as an insect 

 destroyer on cotton, &c., and attempted to use it for the 

 destruction of the ubiquitous mole cricket which destroys 

 grass lawns badly in Trinidad. The result of the appli- 

 cation was that large patches of grass were destroyed, 

 while the cricket apparently enjoyed burrowing therein. 



A rather humorous instance once occurred in which an 

 operator was greatly discomfited when using Bordeaux 

 mixture, a case the like of which may at times happen to 

 even the " old hand." Having some tomatoes affected 

 with leaf fungus, the operator prepared a suitable quantity 

 in a large barrel, and, when ready, used it at sunset upon 

 the afflicted plants. Next morning the tomatoes had the 

 exact appearance of being stricken with a sharp frost, 

 and when the sun gained strength showed that they had 

 been completely killed. The Bordeaux mixture had been 

 made in an unwashed whisky barrel. 



Taken on the whole, therefore, it is considered that these 

 remedies can only be used to advantage under the hands of 

 expert practical men trained in their use and application. 

 That they are useful under such guidance is not to be 

 doubted, but in the hands of amateurs they are generally 

 discouraging and dangerous, and should only be applied 

 by trained workmen. 



The best practice for the individual planter is to proceed 



