798 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
NOV. 14 
THE BORDEAUX MIXTURE FOR POTATO BLIGHT. 
Successful Experiments In Rhode Island. 
A vast amount of experimenting has been done during 
the past year at the experiment stations and by private 
individuals to determine whether the Bordeaux Mixture 
is really of practical value in saving potato vines lrom 
blight or rot. It has been well settled that this mixture 
will prevent the rots and mildews of the grape. If there 
is reasonable hope that it will also stay the potato blight, 
growers will feel greatly encouraged and owe an addi¬ 
tional debt of gratitude to the scientists. The pictures 
given in this issue are made from photographs taken at 
the Rhode Island Experiment Station, which institution is 
doing first-rate work in a practical line of experiments. 
In the report, just issued, we are told that 80 varieties of 
potatoes were tested—60 rows in all, each 50 feet long. 
The patch was divided into four plots of 15 rows each. 
One plot was not sprayed at all. The blight was dis¬ 
covered on a few hills on July 11. Two of the plots were 
sprayed with the mixture on July 12 and 23 and August 2. 
One was sprayed on these dates and also on August 16 and 
30. The following table gives the results of the experiment: 
Merehant- 
able. 
Small. 
Total. 
09 
£ 
H 
& U 
^ <X> 
r* & 
Ze 
.a 
u 
*3 
£ 
Number. 
£ 
u 
*3 
Is 
Number. 
Weight. 
Number. 
Individual 
Weight of. 
t)4J 
U 2 
X 
Sprayed five times. 
Lb‘. 
67.8 
201.7 
Lbs. 
15.9 
* 
115.6 
Lbs. 
83.7 
317.3 
Oz. 
4.2 
p c’t. 
2.9 
Unsprayed. 
50.4 
179.9 
14.8 
133.8 
65.2 
343.7 
3 1 
3.0 
Sprayed three times. 
56.9 
211.7 
12.0 
148.2 
68.9 
86 G.0 
8.2 
4.2 
Sprayed three times. 
55.4 
180.8 
1,9 
126.6 
67.3 
314.1 
3.6 
1.2 
The last plot in the column was a‘‘check” on No. 2 
(unsprayed) that is, it contained exactly the same varie¬ 
ties. The varieties used in Nos. 1 and 3 were similar, but 
different from those in the other two. The first and third 
and the second and fourth should, therefore, be compared. 
single marketable potato on the dead vine, while there are 
four on the other. Not only this, but not a speck of rot 
was on the tubers of the live vine, while one of those on 
the other was badly decayed and the rest had begun to 
decay. 
A Successful Connecticut Experiment. 
On page 753 J. A. asks : “Should we place any faith in 
the statement that the Bordeaux Mixture will kill this 
fungus and prevent rot t ” Perhaps my experience the 
past season will answer him. On the larger part of my 
potato field the Bordeaux Mixture was applied on June 
29, before there was any appearance of blight, and it was 
renewed when washed off by rain—four applications in 
all. The first appearance of blight was on J uly 24; and 
of 32 untreated rows, 16 were immediately sprayed, and 
were afterwards sprayed twice when the mixture was 
washed off by rain. The remaining 16 rows were not 
sprayed at all, and the leaves were all dead by August 1. 
The 16 rows spra ed after blight had appeared were dead 
in spots at the same time but probably one-half the tops 
lived 10 days longer, and the tops sprayed June 29 re¬ 
mained green until August 15—some late ones until Sep¬ 
tember 5. When dug, I measured the yield from two 
varieties with the following result: Of New Queens, 
eight rows where no mixture had been applied yielded 45 % 
bushels of large tubers and six bushels of small; eight 
rows sprayed when the blight had appeared yielded 49 
bushels of large and 6K of small potatoes; eight rows 
sprayed June 29 yielded 57 bushels of large and five bushels 
of small. From Early Puritans, eight rows sprayed when 
the blight first appeared yielded 48 bushels of large and 
four bushels of small ones; eight rows sprayed on June 29 
yielded 51 bushels of large and four bushels of small ones. 
There were many rotten potatoes in the unsprayed rows, 
and some in the rows sprayed after the blight had ap¬ 
peared, but none on those sprayed June 29. All the rows 
of the field were of equal length, and aside from the appli¬ 
cation of the Bordeaux Mixture, were treated precisely 
alike; the ground was a level, sandy loam throughout. 
There were 24 rows of White Elephant Potatoes, a variety 
very liable to rot, but the Bordeaux Mixture carried them 
Of those planted in 1888, Lemon, Flat Bergamot and 
Limber Twig have blighted too much, while Sapiegauka 
Kurskaya and Autumn Bergamot have entirely succumbed 
to the little bacterium. The Chinese Snow (1401) and 
Chinese d’Engery have thus far escaped. We are still 
calling for a pear. benj. buckman. 
Sangamon Co., Ill. 
DOUBLE STRAWBERRY CROPS. 
“ Enhance” gives two Crops In Ohio. 
I send The Rural some of my Enhance Strawberries. 
They have just been picked from the open field. Many are 
now being frozen. On my soil it bears an enormous crop 
in J une; then rests until the latter part of August when 
it again comes into bearing, and continues until the 
weather gets too cold. It exhibits the same peculiarity at 
the Ohio Experiment Station, and in some other localities 
where it is heard from. It is truly a remarkable sort. I 
would be pleased to learn in what condition they reached 
The Rural office. henry young 
Hardin Co., Ohio. 
Remarks.— The box filled with berries is nearly a foot 
long by five inches wide. Each berry is wrapped in oiled 
tissue paper. Many measured over an inch in diameter ; 
all were firm and of excellent quality. In fact at this 
season of the year we have never eaten strawberries of a 
richer, higher flavor. The R. N.-Y. has grown this variety 
for years, as readers are aware. Our report has always 
been in effect “highly prolific vines, hardy and thrifty ; 
berries large to very large, very irregular as to shape and 
of inferior quality, being too acid.” The Enhance is, in¬ 
deed, a remarkable berry. 
A Common Occurrence In Georgia. 
It is a very common occurrence with us to have a small 
second crop of Wilson Strawberries the same year. This 
usually depends upon the condition of the weather during 
December and January. In February, 1880, the crop of 
berries of the above variety was quite large—so much so 
that a considerable amount of fruit was sold in the 
Augusta market. Daring the past two seasons quite a 
SPRAYING POTATOES WITH BORDEAUX MIXTURE. Fig. 284. 
WHERE THE BORDEAUX MIXTURE WAS NOT USED. Fig. 285. 
Among the conclusions to be drawn from this experi¬ 
ment are the following: Spraying three times increased 
the yield of marketable tubers 10 per cent. There was no 
great increase in the number of potatoes, but there was in 
their size. The spraying reduced the percentage of rot in 
every case. Spraying five times or twice In late August 
increased the yield ol marketable tubers 34X per cent 
without Increasing the total number. 
The mixture used was: 1. Six pounds of sulphate of 
copper dissolved in four gallons of hot water. 2. Four 
pounds of lime dissolved in four gallons of cold water. 
When cold the lime solution was thoroughly mixed with 
the copper solution and, when desired for use, diluted 
with cold water to 22 gallons and strained. This mixture 
cost, not including labor, 2% cents per gallon. The amount 
needed for a thorough spraying will depend upon the 
abundance of the vines and the apparatus employed. In 
these experiments a “Eureka” sprayer was used. The 
whole five applications required about 15 gallons or at the 
rate of 300 per acre. For one application, therefore, about 
60 gallons per acre would be needed—costing about $1.50. 
With the ordinary spraying apparatus more would be 
needed. Paris-green was added to the mixture at the first 
application and this destroyed the potato beetles. In some 
reports from the West the Bordeaux Mixture alone has 
killed off these pests. As a result of these experiments, 
Horticulturist Kinney recommends the mixture for general 
trial as a preventive of potato blight. 
The pictures are taken from life. Ftg. 2S4 shows the 
potato field with the Eureka sprayer at work. As will be 
seen, this is a “ knapsack ” sprayer—a tank carried on the 
back, the operator holding the nozzle in one hand and 
working a pump with the other. Fig. 285 shows two rows 
that were not treated with the mixture. The leaves all 
blighted and withered up soon after August 1, leaving 
only the bare stems, while the leaves and stems of the 
rows on either side which were sprayed, were still fresh 
and green on August 30. Fig. 2S6 shows two isolated hills 
of the same variety—the picture having been taken on 
September 1. They grew under exactly the same condi¬ 
tions, except that No. 2 was sprayed at intervals of two 
weeks from July 12 to September 1, inclusive, while No. 1 
was not treated at all and was attacked by the blight on 
July 20. It was completely dead by August 15, while No. 
2 was green and strong on September 1. There is not a 
through all right. In applying the mixture I used a 
Knapsack sprayer with the Vermorel nozzle, walking 
so slowly as to expend one gallon for 15 rods of row. I 
also discovered that the lime kept in solution and did not 
trouble me by clogging if the mixture was used while 
warm. 
It may interest readers of The Rural to learn that 
I raised 31 bushels of R. N.-Y. No. 2 Potatoes from 
one-half bushel of seed, and had less than half a bushel of 
unmerchantable ones (214 by count.) The Delaware Pota¬ 
to is the only variety I have tried which averages such 
large tubers. R J. B. 
West Cheshire, Conn. 
RUSSIAN PEARS IN ILLINOIS. 
Several articles have been published recently on the 
Russian pears. Here on our black corn ground in central 
Illinois I fear they cannot be recommended on account of 
their liability to blight, although I still hope there may be 
some exceptions. I have only fruited Gakovsky, Vic¬ 
torina and Peffos No. 1. They were obtained from Prof. 
Budd and planted in 1884, but I am suspicious that my 
Gakovsky is something else, and that my Peffos No. 1 is 
the true Gakovsky. From 10 trees of Bessemianka I have 
not seen a specimen, although planted seven years. But 
they have blighted. The very severe winter of 1884r-5 
proved that they would stand a temperature of minus 35 
degrees or more, and I propagated nearly 100 trees, and I 
must say that they blight here much worse than the Bart¬ 
lett—nearly as badly as any variety I have. 
Gakovsky (as I have it) ripens about the middle of July, 
is of hardly medium size ; color greenish-yellow ; texture 
soft, melting and of moderate flavor—good. Tree hardy, 
but It blights badly. Victorina ripens about a month 
later, and although larger and sweet, is coarse-grained 
and not so good in quality. The fruit is nearly Anjou¬ 
shaped, but not so regular; color quite yellow. Tree 
pyramidal, rather open; blights badly; not so hardy as 
Bessemianka. Peffos No. 1 ripens about the 1st of Septem¬ 
ber; fruit rather large, pyriform, not smooth, lemon yel¬ 
low in color; stem large, an inch long; flesh dry, woody, 
tasteless—may do for cooking. Tree very thrifty and 
symmetrical, with no blight until this year; very hardy. 
Dnla, planted at the same time, has the growth of the 
Keiffer, but is ruined by blight. 
little crop was produced during February and March in 
advance of the regular crop. In one instance only, how¬ 
ever, was a very large second crop of berries harvested 
during August when, for upwards of two weeks, we 
gathered several crates daily, after having had a good crop 
during May. The cause of this I attributed to a period of 
rain during July, following a thorough working of the 
strawberry field. The varieties then cultivated were 
Hovey’s Seedling, B ack Prince, Jenny Lind and Peabodj’s 
Hautbois. I have never known more than this one in¬ 
stance where such a large second crop was produced In 
summer, but in case of the Wilson it is usual to have 
more or less fruit during the winter months in this section. 
Richmond County, Ga. P. J. berckmans. 
Irrigation Produces a Second Crop. 
All that is needed to produce a second crop of berries in 
this climate is an abundant supply of water from August 
on, and slight protection, say the prepared cloth, to guard 
against early frosts in October and November. Our dry, 
hot summers have the same effect as regards cessation of 
growth of plant, as is afforded by Northern winters, and 
so soon as our fall rains set in a new growth starts, 
furnishing fine foliage and blooms. The latter are gen¬ 
erally caught by frost before maturity, though in some 
mild Novembers and Decembers I have known them to 
ripen in the open field. I am satisfied that if I could com¬ 
mand an abundant supply of water la August, I could 
push forward the growth so as to have the berries mature 
by November 1 to 15. When our people have the means 
to pay for crops out of season that Northern people have, 
spring and fall berries will be regular crops. A. w. s. 
Americus, Ga 
Not a Profitable Crop. 
It frequently happens that our strawberry plants become 
so checked in growth during the hot, dry weather of mid¬ 
summer, that they are practically dormant for a time, and 
when this condition is followed by a long, spring-like fall, 
often continuing till nearly the end of December without 
any killing fro3t, some varieties, especially the extra- 
early ones, are forced into fruiting and ripen some fruit, 
but never enough to be of much market value. The tem¬ 
perature at this season Is too low to hasten maturity or 
develop the perfect qualities of the fruit. I don’t think it 
possible, in ordinary field culture, in this climate, to so 
cultivate, or irrigate, or in any other way stimulate straw- 
