THE IMP0RTA.1S:X FU^S^GICIDES 



17 



Temain for some time, notwithstanding numerous rains, 

 and are liable to cause unnecessary suspicions when on 

 marketed fruit. When a fruit crop requires treatment 

 within a month of the time of picking, it is better to 

 substitute some fungicide like eau celeste or carbonate 

 of copper, but it is doubtful if even these combinations 

 should be applied so near the time of the fruit harvest. 

 With nearly, if not quite, all of our fruit diseases, the 

 treatment should begin early and not continue too late. 



It sometimes happens that traces of Bordeaux mix- 

 ture remain upon the fruit, even when a considerable 

 interval elapses between the last application and the 

 ripening of the fruit. Such traces may be easily re- 

 moved by dipping in a solution made by adding two gal- 

 lons of cider vinegar to ten gallons of water. A good 

 way is to have three tubs, one holding the vinegar mix- 

 ture, and the other two pure water. Then place the 

 grapes or other fruit in wire baskets holding fifteen to 

 twenty pounds, dip them in the vinegar tub for five 

 minutes, and then rinse in the two tubs of clear water, 

 afterwards spreading the fruit on frames or shelves, 

 something like those used in fruit evaporators. Grapes 

 can be treated in this w^ay on a large scale for six cents a 

 hundred pounds, and their appearance for market is not 

 injured to any appreciable extent. 



The Bordeaux mixture must be kept well stirred in 

 the reservoir during application. A paddle in the bar- 

 rel, something like that of an old-fashioned churn, is 

 one of the most efficient agitators. The addition of 

 enough soap to make a slight suds has been recom- 

 mended, as causing the mixture to spread more evenly 

 over the plants. 



Eau Celeste. — This is made by dissolving two 

 pounds of copper sulphate in six or eight gallons of 

 water in an earthen or ^wooden vessel (such as the large 

 crocks used for butter, or wooden pails or tubs), then 

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