340 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ October 22, 1891. 
Third Stage. 
Advanced Practice. 
Bedding. 
Grafting, and Stocks used. 
Layering. 
Division. 
Branch Pruning. 
Boot Pruning. 
Oil and young trees and bushes. 
Fruit Culture. 
Open air and under glass. 
Small fruits. 
Apples and Pears. 
Stone fruits. 
Gathering and storing. 
Packing and marketing. 
Vegetable Culture. 
Tubers and roots. 
Green vegetables. 
Fruits and seeds (Peas, Beans, &c ). 
Rotation of crops. 
Flower Culture. 
Outside and under glass. 
Manures and Application. 
Treatment of Insect Pests. 
Treatment of Fungus Pests. 
General Knowledge of Fruits. 
This has been duly submitted to the Education Department, 
favourably received, and is under consideration. In the meantime, 
however, it is thought desirable to make it as widely known as 
possible through the Press in order that schoolmasters, teachers, or 
others interested in the matter may communicate their opinions as 
to its suitability. If also it were deemed desirable to commence 
the scheme in any school application could be made at once with 
that purpose in view, and when it is finally accepted a grant could 
be earned in the same way as for other subjects. 
As a special subject not included in the ordinary school curri¬ 
culum oDe difficulty will be the instruction of the teachers ; but 
here the County Council’s scheme would prove useful, and in some 
cases classes are being specially formed for teachers with this 
object in view, and the matter is being taken up with considerable 
enthusiasm —Lewis Castle, Hon. Sec. British Fruit Growers' 
Associa'ion, Hotham House, Merton, Surrey. 
POTATO DISEASE EXPERIMENTS. 
In consequence of the great continental reputation of the 
Bordeaux mixture, Bouillie Bordelaise, as an antidote to mildew on 
Mines, some experiments were made in Belgium, France, and 
Ireland for testing its effects on Potatoes for preventing or miti¬ 
gating the disease. The results appear to have been such as to lead 
the Board of Agriculture in co-operation with the Royal Agricul¬ 
tural Society to have further experiments conducted in various 
parts of the country this year. In results these trials appear to 
differ considerably, in some cases the dressings having proved 
beneficial, in others somewhat the reverse, while in others again 
they had no appreciable effect either one way or the other. 
Amongst other trials for testing the merits of the “ broth ” 
were an extensive series in the Potato trial grounds of Messrs. 
Sutton & Sons, Reading. These proved to be of such a remarkable 
character that a number of gentlemen interested in the subject 
were invited to inspect them last Friday. After passing through 
the establishment, which astonishes by its magnitude and com¬ 
pleteness, the visitors, numbering about fifty, fouad themselves in 
the handsome lecture hall, where an excellent luncheon awaited 
them. After the close of the repast Mr. Martin John Sutton gave 
his friends a hearty greeting, and asked them to join him in 
drinking the health of the “ Queen and Royal Family,” pleasantly 
recounting his association with them. He then explained the 
object of the gathering. It was in no sense of a business 
character. It occurred to them when experiments were invited on 
prescribed lines for combating the Potato disease, that they had in 
their collection of 278 varieties of Potatoes in 810 rows or planta¬ 
tions, grown under absolutely identical conditions, one of the best 
possible opportunities for giving the remedy a full and fair trial. 
With thi object of doing this half the rows or plants of the 
different varieties were dressed with Bouillie and the other left 
undressel. The recommendations of the Board of Agriculture 
were strictly followed with the sole object of deriving information. 
The results were so remarkable that they felt they should be seen 
by gentlemen capable of judging for themselves and made widely 
known. Other experiments would no doubt differ, but there 
could not be much difference of opinion he thought of the 
character of their own. 
The speaker was evidently most careful not to even faintly 
indicate how great or how small was the effect of the dressings, and 
no doubt some strikingly beneficial results were anticipated by the 
inspection. The founder of the firm, Mr. Martin Hope Sutton, in 
his interesting reminiscences, was also careful to avoid precise state¬ 
ments in respect to the trials he had inspected. They were very 
interesting, he said, especially as the Potato was the most important 
food crop except Wheat, and therefore deserving of the best efforts 
towards improvement and preservation. By this time the company 
were looking forward to half rows of fine spotless tubers and 
corresponding portions representing blackness and decay. Whether 
or not Dr. Yoelcker was aware of the facts of the case did not 
transpire, but said he had satisfied himself that the only object of 
Messrs. Sutton had been a search for truth, and that was why he 
was there ; and after thanking the firm for what they had done, 
and would permit them to see, the company were requested to 
drive to the grounds. On passing out of the hall tabulated records 
were handed to each visitor, and before the trials were reached the 
broad general facts were by many discovered. A surprise was 
indeed in store, and this is the issue. After all the care and labour 
that had been devoted in dressing the crops, sorting, weighing, and 
tabulating with the utmost exactitude the effects of the mixture, 
the outcome of the whole, the “reward,” for endeavour was a 
distinct loss in Potatoes. Here is the significant summary, and 
there cannot be a doubt that it is in an absolutely accurate repre¬ 
sentation. 
Experiments Results. 
Tons ewts. qrs. lbs. 
810 rows, total undressed . 5 8 2 5 
810 rows, total dressed. 4 17 1 1 
Total increase of sound produce in undressed .... 0 11 1 4 
As the terms of recommendation of the Board of Agriculture 
may not be in the recollection of all the readers of this Journal 
they may be in substance recapitulated. It was advised that 
20 poles of Potatoes be dressed with a mixture of 4 lbs. of sulphate 
of copper and 2 lbs. of lime in 20 gallons of water, three dressings 
to be given. Then 30 poles were to be dressed with 6 lbs. of 
sulphate of copper and 3 lbs. of lime in 30 gallons of water, or a 
gallon to a pole in each case. This was done at Reading on June 
27th, July 7th, and July 18th. Another plot of 17x poles was to 
be dressed with 3j lbs. of sulphate of copper and If lb. of lime in 
17^ gallons of water, or just over a gallon to a pole. This was 
done on June 30th, July 10th, and July 25th. If all the applica 
tions were made on the same days it might have been supposed 
that weather peculiarities then prevailing might have influenced 
the action of the fungicide and consequently the results. It is well 
therefore that the dressings were made on six different days 
instead of three in what is supposed to be within the term of the 
fungoid attack, though the Potato veteran, Mr. Robert Fenn, is of 
opinion that the first dressing should be made much sooner, and he 
can certainly show results as satisfactory as those at Reading are 
undoubtedly unsatisfactory. Mr. Fenn, however, applied the 
antidote in powder form, Tait and Buchanan’s preparation, though 
this, like the liquid, lias not had equal results everywhere. 
Returning to the Reading trials. The crops of tubers of each 
experiment were lying on the ground as dug, those from the dressed 
and undressed rows side by side, the sound Potatoes in each case 
having been accurately weighed. Tn most instances a glance 
sufficed to show the disadvantage of the dressings, while only in 
very few indeed were their advantages visible, in several no 
marked difference being apparent. 
The number of rows dressed (in part) varied, presumably 
according to the relative extent of the general culture of the several 
varieties. As an example, we take the first on the list, Eclipse. 
Number of rows five, weight of half rows dressed 2 qrs. 7 lbs., 
weight of half rows undressed 2 qrs. 27 lbs. ; number of rows 
showing loss of weight after dressing, all—total decrease 20 lbs. 
Sutton’s Ashleaf, number of rows 27, weight of half rows dressed 
2 cwt. 2 qrs. 7 lbs., of half rows undressed 3 cwt. 0 qrs. 23 lbs., 
number of rows of equal weight 5, number of rows showing 
increased weight after dressing none, number of rows showing a 
decrease, 22 ; total weight of decrease in sound tubers 2 qrs. 16 lbs. 
These examples fairly indicate the effects on the whole of the 
early varieties—a decrease of crop in every one of them, though 
the plants were in full growth when the first dressing was applied. 
Messrs. Sutton observe, “ This unsatisfactory result would seem to 
indicate that the Bouillie is not of any avail as a fertiliser.” It 
is most unhkely that its claim to that merit can be sustained, and 
where it prevents or destroys fungoid growths on the plants and 
