R. M. Kellogg's Great Crops of 
Spraying Our Propagating Beds. 
^=tJ^°f',^!^'l°';^^"°^.';l° '"/''."''''^,'*J"- T'"^? find "'eT leaf coated with Bordeaux mixture and arse- 
nate of lead and die at their 6rst meal. Spraying is a part of the regular system of tillage. Perfect develop- 
ZtaH^T^ "7 '''i ^5°"'^.°^ be likely to need to sp?ay the 
garden patch or fruiting iTeld. Strong healthy plants are the result of right methods in growing and pro' 
weather is favorable for their germination. 
Commencing immediately after setting our 
plants are sprayed as often as once in two 
weeks until growth stops in the fall and a 
last one late enough to kill the winter spores. 
If the weather at any time becomes murky 
and rainy we go over them oftener. 
This matter is so exceedinglj' important 
that, if a nurseryman sprayed at all, he would 
mention that fact. I know one who sprayed 
spasmodically once or twice during the sum- 
mer. 
Spray the propagating bed thoroughly and 
in nine cases out of ten you will not need to 
spray the fruiting bed at all or the family gar- 
den bed, or in other words, set plants free 
from spores and there will be none to devel- 
op. 
We use a cart and Spray Motor pump, giv- 
ing a pressure of at least one hundred pounds 
to the square inch as seen in the photograph. 
A nozzle sets just above three rows and the 
fine mist floats down and under every leaf. 
Everything is covered. 
SPRAY POISONS. 
The remedy for all insects is arsenic. Noth- 
ing can eat arsenic and live. Paris green is the 
most popular of all poisons for spraying, but 
it contains an acid which is liable to burn the 
foliage and strawberries are especially sensi- 
tive to it. 
This year I hit upon a plan which com- 
pletely overcomes the difficulty. For each 
ounce of the Paris green take two ounces of 
the best stone lime, must be chunks, not air 
slacked. Put in an old tin can with poison 
and slack with boiling hot water so it will get 
very hot and let it stand, say, half an hour be- 
fore diluting; the lime neutralizes the acid 
completely. When we fill the spray barrel 
34 
we mix it for the next barrel and let it stand 
half an hour. It is not so good if a stock mix- 
ture is made up in advance, because it settles 
and is hard to divide equally and will not 
give uniformity. 
Arsenate of lead never burns the foliage and 
will stick for a long time, even if heavy rains 
intervene. I do not use London purple, be- 
cause Its strength varies. Arsenic is not good 
for fungi or rust. Paris green four ounces, or 
arsenate of lead three pounds to 50 gallons of 
water. 
Bordeaux mixture is only used for rusts, 
blights and other forms of fungi. Never for 
insects. 
Take four pounds copper sulphate, put in an 
old gunny sack or basket and hang it in a bar- 
rel containing about 30 gallons of water and it 
will slack in a few hours; put in a cop- 
per boiler and heat it and it will dissolve in 
20 minutes, but throw it in the bottom of the 
barrel so water cannot get to it and it will 
require several days. Now, take four pounds 
of the best stone lime, not air slacked, but 
solid chunks. It is much better to use boiling 
hot water to slack it. Let it stand a little while 
so it will slack thoroughly and then dilute it. 
Then take common window screen wire and 
strain it into the spray barrel and just when 
you are ready to spray, not before or it will 
curdle, put in the sulphate add water enough 
to make 50 gallons and keep agitated well. 
You can add the Paris green or arsenate of 
lead to this and spray all at once, if you 
choose. If you don't want so much, use the 
proportions. 
We make a stock mixture. Slack 25 pounds 
of lime in boiling water and add enough to 
make 50 gallons of water. Then dissolve 25 
pounds of the copper sulphate and you have 
half a pound of each to the gallon of water. 
