THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 6 
186 
EXPERIENCE WITH BORDEAUX 
MIXTURE. 
What Caused the Failure. 
Regarding the question asked on page 
91 by H. W. Heaton, “Does Potato 
Spraying Pay?” two causes may have 
conspired to defeat his purpose, one of 
these may have been a poor quality of 
Paris-green which tended to burn, and 
thereby injure the foliage. The second 
reason, and at this distance seems most 
likely, some of the seed may have car¬ 
ried over Winter the spores of the fun¬ 
gus, and when growth began in the field 
the mycelium just penetrated to every 
part of the plant structure. We know 
that to be one of the ways by which the 
so-called “blight” is introduced. Of 
course the more prolific source of conta¬ 
gion is found in the carelessness of a 
neighbor who, refusing to spray, fills the 
atmosphere for miles around with the 
spores. The question may be asked, why 
did they not rot more than they did? It 
may not have been that particular kind 
of fungus, or granted that it was, the 
weather may not have been sufficiently 
wet during the latter part of the season 
to wash the poison down in contact with 
the tubers. But now this much has been 
said regarding the causes of failure on 
the part of the Bordeaux Mixture, an¬ 
other, and in some cases a very potent 
source of trouble, is found in the fact 
that too large a proportion of soluble 
nitrogen in the fertilizer or manure, 
predisposes any crop to danger from this 
source, no matter, apparently, how well 
the crop may be taken care of. The 
philosophy seems to be about like this: 
An undue proportion of soluble nitrogen 
causes a rank succulent growth of foli¬ 
age, with usually a corresponding lack 
of root system. The luxuriant foliage 
evaporates large quantities of moisture, 
and early in the season the supply is 
equal to the demand, but ordinarily in 
this section as the season advances this 
condition is reversed; the rainfall has 
become more scant, and the tops larger, 
demanding more moisture. To put it 
more tersely, the potato tops are asking 
for more moisture than the root system 
is able to supply. Now, there can be 
but one result in such a case. It is only 
a question of time—perhaps a very short 
time—before the structure of the plant 
collapses. It does not make a great deal 
of difference, as far as my experience 
has gone, how much spraying is done, 
though between celery and potatoes we 
use about 300 pounds of copper sulphate 
a year, and we are using more and more 
every year. The correspondent from 
Rhode Island evidently thinks that 
spraying does not pay, and that people 
generally think so, but are ashamed to 
own that they are beaten. I have tried 
to enumerate some of the possible 
causes aside from spraying, but of 
course can only proceed along the line 
of general principles, as the data is very 
meager. But it can be safely stated that 
when a man has mastered the art of 
growing potatoes in this country he can 
be safely trusted to water a greenhouse. 
Pennsylvania. m. gakraitan. 
Spraying Potatoes With Bordeaux. 
By all means let us have an “experi¬ 
ence meeting” on the potato spraying 
question. My experience in past years 
has been very much like that of H. W. 
Heaton, and I am led to believe that 
Bordeaux is an uncertain remedy for Po¬ 
tato blight, notwithstanding the rather 
positive conclusions reached by the 
scientific men of the experiment sta¬ 
tions. The blight is the one thing that 
I have to contend with, and I have not 
yet been able completely to prevent it 
with Bordeaux or anything of the kind. 
By this I do not mean that it does no 
good, for the unsprayed rows usually die 
much quicker and give less yield and 
more rot than- the sprayed rows. The 
past two years show a decided difference 
with the late rot, the unsprayed rows 
feeing almost all rotten. I used the 5-5- 
40 formula and applied from three to 
five times according to the weather con¬ 
ditions, and used about one barrel to 
the acre. I shall continue to use Bor¬ 
deaux, as I do not know of anything 
better, but I certainly think the men of 
the experiment stations should give us 
a better fungicide than Bordeaux. The 
compressed air sprayer is all right for 
small jobs around the garden, but is too 
slow for field work. It can be pumped 
up tight enough to burst if not fitted 
with a safety valve, as I know to my 
sorrow. e. j. b. 
Hackettstown, N. J. 
Six Governments 
in America and Europe have adopted and use exclusively 
THE SPRAMOTOR. in their experimental work, 
Eighty-twd Outfits are in 
use by Ontario and Dominion Governments alone. The 
Sprarrvotor has won over orve Hundred Gold Medals and 
First Awards in the past three years. 
Wins a Government Spray Pump Contest. 
This is to Certify, that at the Con- 
test of Spraying apparatus, held at 
G rimsby, under t he auspices of the Board '• tr'rrrfvri 
of Control of the Fruit Experimental Station of Ontario, in which there were / J Judge* 
eleven contestants, the Spramotor, made by the Spramotor Company, was 
awarded first place. 
It any further endorsement were needed it willbefoundln thesuperlority of the Spramotor itself. Itisan 
easy, quick and thorough erudlcntor offruita.idvinediseasesandinsectpests. Unequalled In white¬ 
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“A Gold Mine on Your Farm,” which in addition to formulas, tables,best methods,etc., in spraying, 
tells about the Spramotor. Wcmailitfree. Askforacopy. 
SPRAMOTOR CO., BUFFALO, N. Y. and LONDON, CAN. 
LIME-SULPHUR WITHOUT BOILING. 
We are asked repeatedly to tell how 
to make the lime and sulphur wash 
without boiling. The following direc¬ 
tions were given by the late Prof. V. E. 
Lowe. This wash has given fair results, 
we understand. It does not stick quite 
as well as the boiled wash, but can be 
sprayed cold: 
To make the wash without boiling the 
same proportions of lime, sulphur and 
water were used as given in the formula 
published in the Station bulletins, 
namely, 40 pounds of lime, 20 pounds 
of ground sulphur and 60 gallons of wa¬ 
ter. In place of the salt either Bab¬ 
bitt’s potash or a ground commercial 
caustic soda were used in proportions 
varying from one-fourth to one pound 
to each pound of sulphur. The former 
amount seemed to be sufficient. The 
caustic soda seemed to give as good re¬ 
sults as the potash and is cheaper. The 
lime was slaked in a convenient recep¬ 
tacle, much pains being taken to keep it 
slaking rapidly. When the slaking was 
well under way the sulphur, which had 
been mixed with water into a rather 
thin paste, was stirred in quickly. The 
potash or caustic soda was then added 
while the stirring was being continued. 
More water was added as needed, to 
keep the chemical action vigorous, and 
the whole was stirred rapidly. As soon 
as the caustic compounds were added 
the mixture changed to a reddish brown 
color caused by the sulphur solution. 
As soon as all bubbling had ceased, 
enough cold water (hot water would 
probably be better), was added to make 
the right 'preparation, and this was 
sprayed upon the trees at once. The 
wash made after this method had the 
same general appearance as the boiled 
lime-sulphur-salt wash, and seemed to 
spray and adhere to the trees as well. 
“When a man sits down an’ begins to 
congratulate hisse’f on bein’ so good,” 
said Uncle Eben, “is de time dat Satan 
begins to look him over to see if he’s 
’bout ripe enough to pick.”—Washington 
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