i9io.] 



Bordeaux Mixture. 



803 



in exactly the same way as that which I made myself and 

 found it practically worthless. Those trees which were 

 sprayed with it (three times) were covered with apple u scab," 

 while those sprayed with the home-made mixture were kept 

 practically free." On the other hand, a fruit-grower in Sussex 

 tells me that the use this season of Bordeaux mixture made 

 from the Woburn paste kept his trees healthy, although last 

 season they suffered severely from "scab."* 



From my own experience I should advise the commercial 

 fruit-grower at present — until more experiments have been 

 made — to continue to make the bulk of his own Bordeaux 

 mixture himself, while using a small quantity of the Woburn 

 Bordeaux paste experimentally. 



II. The application of Bordeaux Mixture. — The best type 

 of spraying machine for spraying with Bordeaux mixture 

 depends to a large extent on such circumstances as the height 

 of the trees and whether these are grown in a plantation or 

 in an orchard. But the chief point that requires to be empha- 

 sised is that the nature of the spray is the essential factor 

 for success in spraying with Bordeaux mixture. The spray 

 must be very fine and "misty," or smoke-like; a hanging 

 "mist" or "fog" must be produced which drifts over and 

 through the tree and deposits on the surface of the leaves 

 excessively minute drops, which when dry give the parts of 

 the trees which have been sprayed the appearance of being 

 almost uniformly covered with a very thin bluish film or 

 dust. Such a deposit of Bordeaux mixture is so intimately 

 attached to the surface of the leaf or fruit that it does not 

 readily wash off. Last season, notwithstanding the frequent 

 rains, I saw apple trees which had been properly sprayed 

 with Bordeaux mixture still showing a bluish film over the 

 leaves (and thus completely protected from the "scab" 

 fungus) nine weeks after the application. 



In order to obtain the right kind of spray, attention must 

 be paid to two points; (1) a special type of nozzle must be 

 used, and (2) sufficient pressure must be maintained at the 

 nozzle. If these two requirements are not fulfilled, the full 



* Mr. Pickering {Woburn Expt. Fruit Farm, nth Report, p. 178) says, 

 ! "Reports received have led to the conclusion that the paste has been about as 

 efficient [during the season 1909] as ordinary Bordeaux mixture," 



