138 
THE MAKING AND APPLICATION OF BORDEAUX 
MIXTURE. 
E. S. Salmon, F.L.S., 
Mycologist to the South-Eastern Agricultural College, Wye, Kent. 
[. The Making of Bordeaux Mixture— Directions as to the best 
method of making Bordeaux mixture have already been given in this 
Bulletin. In order, however, to make the present articles more 
complete, we reprint the following from the Journal of the Board of 
Agriculture , Vol. XVL No. io. 
“Bordeaux mixture for spraying fruit-trees generally (excluding 
peaches) should be made according to the following formula and in 
the following manner : — 
Copper sulphate (“ bluestone ”) f 4 lb. 
Quicklime (in lumps)... ... 4 lb. 
Water ... - 50 gallons . t 
Dissolve the 4 lb. of copper sulphate in a wooden tub or bucket— 
iron or tin vessels must not be used. The easiest way to do this is 
to suspend the material, wrapped in a piece of coarse sacking, in 
a few gallons of cold water, from a stick placed across the top of a tub, 
or wooden bucket. If this be done over night, the copper sulphate 
will be found to be dissolved in the water by the morning. (If 
hot water be used, the copper sulphate can be placed at the bottom of 
the tub or bucket, and be dissolved in a few minutes.) Then add 
water to make twenty-five gallons. Now take the four pounds of 
quicklime, and put it in a tin pail. Add a few pints of water until all 
the lime is slaked, taking care to add only a little water at first ; 
in this way a thick creamy paste is obtained. Add water to make 
twenty-five gallons. We have now twenty-five gallons of copper sul- 
phate solution, and twenty-five gallons of “ milk-of-lime.” When the 
two substances are thus diluted with water, they can be mixed 
together by pouring one into the other, or a bucketful of each 
can be poured simultaneously or alternately into a third tub, a 
wooden bucket being used for the copper sulphate solution. The 
t In purchasing copper sulphate an article of 98 per cent, purity should be demanded , 
substances described as “agricultural bluestone ’’ or “agricultural sulphate of copper'' 
must be avoided, as these are usually adulterated with iron sulphate. In this Journal for 
September last a number of cases were recorded of the sale in this country of adulterated 
copper sulphate ; it is clear, therefore, that it is important for the fruit-grower to insist 
on an article of 98 per cent, purity. 
i The strength of Bordeaux mixture at present most widely recommended in the United 
States is 4 : { lb. of copper sulphate, 4% lb. quicklime, 50 gallons (Imperial) of water. This 
strength is expressed in America by the formula 4 : 4 : SO, since, as Mr. S. U. Pickering 
has lately pointed out, the relative value of the American and Imperial gallon is different, 
the former weighing 8 .345 lb. and the latter 10 lb. As, however, excellent results have 
followed the use in this country of Bordeaux mixture made of the strength 4 : 4 : 50 
(Imperial), and as, further, some “ scorching ” is liable to occur on some varieties of 
apples, it would seem advisable, for the present at any rate, for the English grower to 
continue to use this as his “ standard ” mixture. 
