19 1 2.] Spraying for Big Bud of Black Currants. 847 



A small experiment was carried out by one of the Board's 

 officers at Harvington, Worcestershire, to test the efficacy 

 of various sprays for combating big 

 Spraying for Big Bud bud of black currants. The bushes 



of Black Currants. occupied three-quarters of an acre of 

 ground, but only a small proportion of 

 them were treated. There were two varieties, "Prince of 

 Wales" and ''Carter's Champion," all of them affected, the 

 former having an estimated percentage of 60 big buds and 

 the latter of 50. 



The bushes were sprayed across the rows so as to eliminate 

 differences solely due to the variety. 



Sprays Used. — The sprays used were : — 



(1) Lime and sulphur in the dry form at the rate of one 

 part of lime to four of sulphur. Air-slaked lime was used, 

 as ground quicklime in small quantities could not be 

 obtained. 



(2) Quassia and soft soap at the rate of 2 lb. of quassia 

 chips, 1 lb. of soft soap, and 10 gallons of water. The 

 quassia chips were boiled for two hours, and then the soft 

 soap was added. 



(3) Soft soap alone at the rate of 1 lb. of soft soap to 10 

 gallons of water. 



Plan of the Experiment. — The first three transverse rows 

 were treated with lime and sulphur, the next four were left 

 as control, the next two were sprayed with soft soap, the 

 next four were left as control, and the next 2 J- were sprayed 

 with quassia and soft soap. The remaining and larger part 

 of the plantation was left as control. 



The two series of intervening control rows were left more 

 to separate any overlapping effects than to act as strict 

 controls. 



Dates of Spraying. — On the first spraying, April 20th, the 

 sprays were applied as above. On the second spraying, May 

 4th, the lime and sulphur was used in the proportion of 1 to 

 8. On the third spraying, May 25th, pure sulphur was used 

 instead of lime and sulphur. 



Results and Notes. — On May 4th immense swarms of mites 

 could be seen outside each big bud. They were also to be 

 found in considerable numbers on the leaves and flowers. 



