ENEMIES AND DISEASES OF PLANTS. 



43 



present prodigal waste of both money and time upon a mass of 

 worse than worthless novelties being constantly palmed off upon 

 a too credulous public." 



4. ENEMIES AND DISEASES OF PLANTS. 



There appears to be nothing new in the year's results in 

 combating insects and fungous pests, but there have been con- 

 firmations of previous experiments and methods. The most 

 important results of the year are probably these : Further 

 proof that the Bordeaux mixture is our best fungicide and that 

 it can be advantageously used at half its original strength; 

 demonstration that apple-scab can be profitably combated, and 

 that various important secondary gains follow the applications 

 of the fungicide;* proof that the Virgalieu and other pears 

 which are passing out of favor because of the cracking of the 

 fruit, can still be profitably grown by the use of the sprays ; f 

 complete control of the pear leaf-blight in commercial orchards 

 in Virginia ; X successful spraying against the fruit-rot and 

 twig-blight of the peach. § 



The Cornell Mixture. — An attempt was made during the 

 year to combine the two chief insecticides — Paris green and 

 kerosene emulsion — and Bordeaux mixture into one compound, 

 by Mr. M. V. Slingerland of Cornell University. This is the 

 first attempt, apparently, to combine the three compounds, and 

 thus to form a cure-all insecto-fungicide. Experiments have 

 revealed certain weaknesses in the mixture, but the attempt is 

 nevertheless an important one, as the possible forerunner of a 

 successful triple combination. || "Last winter, while experi- 

 menting in the making of the different insecticides and fungi- 

 cides," Mr. Slingerland writes, " I succeeded in forming a com- 

 bination which, at the time, seemed to be an almost perfect 

 panacea for all the insect and fungoid ills that might affect 

 the fruit grower. When it was shown to Professor Bailey 

 he immediately dubbed it the 'Cornell Compound or Mix- 

 ture/ . . . My Bordeaux and emulsion were made accord- 

 ing to the common formulas. When the directions were care- 

 fully followed, I found that I could quite readily combine the 

 two in any proportions required, and the resulting mixture 



*Lodeman, Bull. 60, Cornell Exp. Sta. 



t Beach, 39th Proc, W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. 56. 



t Waite, 39th Proc. W. N. Y. Hort. Soc. 156. 



§ Chester, 5th rep. Del. Exp. Sta. Experiments made in 1891 and 1892, 

 but first fully reported in 1893. 



|| For a full account of the Cornell Mixture, see Science, xxii. 105 

 (Aug. 25, 1893). 



