1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
3i5 
ments at the Cornell Station indicate that the Paris- 
green has a fungicidal value, as apple blight was re¬ 
duced by its use alone, and the insecticidal value of 
the green, when used with the Bordeaux Mixture, was 
greater than that of the purple, if the results of these 
experiments are trustworthy, then Paris-green is 
preferable to London-purple when put in the mixture 
to destroy the potato bug. If one has to apply an 
arsenite to kill the bugs, then the labor of spraying 
need not be charged against the blight. Also, the 
Michigan station says that when arsenites are used 
with the Bordeaux Mixture, there is less danger of 
burning the foliage (of trees) than when used alone, 
and this would apply to potatoes as well. The soluble 
arsenic unites with the lime, forming an arsenite of 
lime, a substance practically insoluble. 
The Rhode Island Station reports that it used the 
undiluted Bordeaux Mixture—that is, six pounds of 
sulphate of copper and four pounds of lime to 22 gal¬ 
lons of water, and it applied the solution at the rate 
of 60 gallons to the acre. The cost was 
two cents a gallon, or $1.20 an acre for 
the mixture. The copper cost it seven 
cents a pound, a rather high price. As 
more than twice as much of the mix¬ 
ture was put on an acre by the staJon 
than in my case, the labor must have 
been fully twice as great. The diluted 
mixture does not clog the Vermorel noz¬ 
zle at all, while the undiluted is said to 
do so. By giving the sprayer a good 
pressure and moving the nozzle with a 
little sidewise jerk at each hill, I applied 
the solution as fast as one usually walks. 
There is a wide margin between 15 
cents and $1 20 an acre for the material. 
As Professor Green says that the diluted 
mixture has sufficient strength, I think 
it is safe to consider that a fixed fact. If 
so, then the only difference in cost to be 
considered is due to the different amounts 
of the solution used. The station used 
GO gallons while I used 25. I believe 
that it would have been safer for me to 
have used double the amount that I did, 
or 50 gallons per acre. Still, I do not 
know that it would have been any better, 
as I had no blight in my fields Had I 
used 50 gallons, the cost of the material 
would have been 30 cents an acre The 
cost of application would have been 
about 50 cents instead of 25, as it would 
take about twice as long for the mixture 
to pass through the nozzle. This year I 
shall deem it safer to use 50 gallons per 
acre, and consequently expect to expend 
80 cents an acre for an application, in¬ 
cluding material and labor. 
There was a blight in my fields, but 
it was unlike the well known one. The 
Rural, which rarely lets anything 
escape it, noticed this blight in the 
East It caused the leaves to turn black 
and curl up. I suffered quite a serious 
loss from it, and the diluted Bordeaux 
Mixture did not seem to stay it in the 
least. I think that it is this blight that 
is described in a Delaware Station bul¬ 
letin as follows: “This shows itself 
upon the leaves as black spots marked 
by concentric ridges. The same fungus 
is found on leaves of the cultivated to¬ 
mato, and produces a practically iden¬ 
tical disease of that crop. It is also 
commonly found upon Jimson weed, and 
it is probable that these diseases of the 
potato and tomato had their origin in this fungus on 
the Jimson weed.” This bulletin quotes a letter 
from Professor Galloway saying that he found the 
Bordeaux Mixture a preventive. As I have said, the 
diluted Bordeaux Mixture did not check this new 
blight in my fields last summer. alva agee. 
A NIAGARA GRAPE GROWER TALKS. 
THE OUTCOME OF A GREAT SCHEME. 
[EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE.] 
Good for Those on ** the Ground Floor.” 
Mr. B. is one of the several farmers in a certain town 
in western New York, who were induced by the specious 
promises and plausible arguments of oleaginous- 
tong ued agents to plant Niagara grape vines on their 
(to them) wealth-compelling vineyard plan. Some of 
the first of these planters have done well, and made 
money. Their fruit was in market when Niagaras were 
scarce, and sold for a high price. The outrageous 
prices charged for the vines necessitated these prices 
in order to even pay first cost. 
“ How are your Niagara vines doing?” I asked Mr. B. 
“Fairly well, but they require an immense amount 
of labor to keep them in shape.” 
“ How many acres have you ? ” 
“ Six, and that is all I want to take cire of.” 
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The experiments in raising Egyptian cotton under¬ 
taken by the agricultural experiment stations in the 
South, under the auspices of the Department of Agri¬ 
culture, are worthy of general interest. The importa¬ 
tion of Egyptian cotton into this country has increased 
rapidly of late greatly to the detriment of domestic 
growers of loDg staple cotton. Last year it amounted 
to upwards of $3,000,000, an increase of over 100 per 
cent over the importation for the fiscal year 1890. 
The Egyptian product is used as a substitute for fine 
cotton in the manufacture of certain goods, and, 
owing to its cheapness, has nearly driven its American 
rival out of the market. A thorough trial of raising 
the foreign staple will be made throughout the South 
the coming season, and there are excellent grounds 
for believing that success will reward the effort. A 
trifle of $3,000,000 is better for us here than in Egypt. 
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An Essay on “The Cow.” Fig. 121. 
Written by Grover Cleveland in bis ninth year. Presented by the courtesy of Once a Week. 
“ How long has your vineyard been set?” 
“ Seven years. ” 
“ Did you plant on the vineyard plan ? ” 
'i es, and haven’t made enough yet to finish paying 
for the vines. According to the agents’ talk, when they 
were urging me to plant, I ought to have finished pay¬ 
ing for them long ago. I think I have paid more now, 
however, than they were ever worth.” 
“ Do you spray your vines and grapes ? ” 
“Yes; the black rot must be conquered in some way.” 
Experiences in Marketing. 
“ Do you market your grapes according to the com¬ 
pany’s much lauded vineyard plan ? ” 
“ Not much; I tried it one year, sent fine fruit packed 
according to directions, labeled with their trademark 
label, and received about a cent per pound, net.” 
“ 1 suppose you didn’t try it again after that expe¬ 
rience ? ” 
“ Yes; I thought one shipment was not a fair trial, 
so the next year I made another according to direc¬ 
tions, and received about the same net price as before. 
This ought to have satisfied me, but the next year I 
made another shipment with the same result. That 
settled it, as I had no more grapes to throw away.” 
“ What is their maiket scheme ? ” 
“ It is too elaborate for a plain farmer to compre¬ 
hend, much less to clearly explain. It includes a sys¬ 
tem of supervising the packing of fruit, labeling each 
package with a label copyrighted by them, and to be 
obtained only by those planting their vines. They 
were to supervise the dealers, and have such a control 
over them that upon their failure to secure a satisfac¬ 
tory price for fruit received, they would be cut off from 
receiving further supplies from any vineyardist They 
also provided for daily market reports from all mar¬ 
kets, so that the fruit might always be sent where the 
demand was greatest. The reputation of the fruit 
was to be already established for each planter, even 
before the vineyard was planted. In short, they 
claimed it to be the most perfect system of marketing 
ever introduced, insuring prompt returns from sales, 
an increase of price, and at the same time relieving 
the producer from many of the cares, anxieties and 
losses attending marketing, and giving 
to all equal facilities in marketing.” 
“ Have their claims for the system been 
sustained in actual practice ? ” 
“ Not in my case, and I don’t think 
they have been anywhere. The scheme 
is impracticable.” 
“ Where do you market your grapes?” 
“ Last fall, I sent a good many to 
cities iD the eastern and northern parts 
of the State, to dealers who had formerly 
obtained their supply from the Cayuga 
Lake region. Last season, the grapes 
were not good there, they shelled badly, 
and, as ours were excellent, I got a hold 
on the market at good prices, and I 
think l can keep it. I have shipped a 
good many down in Pennsylvania, and 
have also so’dagood many to consumers 
in our home village.” 
“ What prices did you get in the home 
market ?” 
“ Five cents per pound. I had a little 
experience that shows the value of good 
goods. I had sold some around town, 
and people would stop and ask about 
Niagara grapes, and, of course, ask the 
price. ‘Five cents a pound.’ ‘But I 
can get them of Mr. H. for four cents.’ 
‘ All right, get them of him then ; you 
can t have mine for less than five cents.’ 
So some of them bought of Mr. H., but 
most of them finally came to me glad to 
pay me five cents. You see Mr. H. had 
a small vineyard, he hadn’t half taken 
care of it, and his grapes were poor. He 
knew his fruit wasn’t so good as mine, 
so he put down the price, but I didn’t 
have any trouble in selling all of mine, 
and at my price, too.” 
“ What packages do you use ?” 
“ Mostly 5 and 10-pound baskets. Last 
fall we packed and shipped some in cases, 
four five-pound baskets in a box, the 
latter nailed up tight. I like this very 
much, as there isn’t so much likelihood 
of its being broken open in transit. We 
( -\ . have always lost many grapes by the 
ClyjTssZyYALAS J baskets being broken open, even when 
shipped by express. Receivers didn’t 
think to make a fuss about the condition 
of the baskets until after receipting for 
them, and then, of course, it was too 
late.” 
Experiment at a High Price. 
“ Didn’t Mr. Y., your neighbor plant 
a vineyard too ?” 
“ Yes, he put out 11 acres five years ago.” 
“What success has he had ?” 
“ None, so far. He has taken good care of his vines, 
and has put an immense amount of hard labor upon 
them, but he has never had a dollar from them in 
return.” 
“ What is the difficulty ?” 
“One year a late frost ruined all the blossoms, 
another the rose bugs, and so it has gone.” 
“ Mr. C. put out a few acres, too, I believe.” 
“ Yes; six acres.” 
“ Has he made anything from them ?” 
“ Not a cent; he has abandoned them entirely. It 
seems strange that he shouldn’t at least try to care for 
part of them, but he hasn’t so much as saved a single 
vine.” 
“ Are there any other vineyards in your neighbor¬ 
hood ?” 
“ One small one. Mr. R. set one acre, and neglected 
it for a year or two, and then began to care for and 
cultivate it. I believe it is doing very well now, 
although he has as yet received no returns from it.” 
“Didn’t Mr E. have a small vineyard ?” 
