1906. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
187 
DOES BORDEAUX MIXTURE INJURE 
TREES? 
The Highest Expert Opinion. 
We have had complaints from farmers that 
Bordeaux Mixture when made and sprayed as 
the best growers advise has injured foliage 
and fruit. The following opinions from 
scientific men are presented. 
My opinion is that any spraying with 
oil or salts upon foliage interferes with 
the proper functions of the leaves, but 
proper and reasonable spraying causes less 
injury to the plants than the insects or 
fungous diseases of which the spraying is 
a preventive. I am aware and have ob¬ 
served that spraying with Bordeaux Mix¬ 
ture of ordinary strength has sometimes 
caused a scalding of foliage and a russet- 
ing of fruit, but I think it is due to the cli¬ 
matic conditions which prevailed at the 
time of the spraying, and not to a cumu¬ 
lative weakness of several years’ spraying, 
for in several cases it occurred upon trees 
which had never been sprayed before. I 
have had frequent complaints during the 
past year of such injury as you refer to 
from various parts of our State, from 
New York, Canada and Ohio, and I be¬ 
lieve it was due to unfavorable atmos¬ 
pheric conditions rather than a weakened 
condition of the injured trees. I believe 
that trees may be seriously injured by ex¬ 
cessive and too frequent spraying. I have 
seen many young nursery trees kerosened 
so much that the bark was black, cracked 
and hard, and the new growth short and 
weak. GEORGE c. BUTZ. 
Pennsylvania Station. 
There is no doubt that under some con¬ 
ditions and with some trees injury results 
from spraying with Bordeaux Mixture. 
For example, the peach and Japanese 
plums are very susceptible to injury of the 
leaves, resulting in shot holes and often 
in defoliation, so that growers in some 
HOUSES STEAM FOR COOKING LIME- 
SULPIIUR. See Page 171. 
States do not care to spray the trees when 
in foliage. With the apple, russeting of 
the fruit and burning of the foliage re¬ 
sults in some seasons, there apparently 
being more injury in the rainy ones. I 
have seen no injuries to the branches or 
trunks of fruit trees resulting from spray¬ 
ing with Bordeaux, though it is not impos¬ 
sible that with tender trees some little in¬ 
jury might occur to the young twigs. 
When spraying first came into general 
use there was some fear that, with con¬ 
tinued applications, in time enough of the 
material might reach the ground to injure 
the roots. I doubt whether there has been 
any evidence furnished as yet to give a 
basis for this fear, though if such did 
have a bearing the trees would probably 
show a gradual, rather than a sudden, 
decline. I think the real cause of a gen¬ 
eral decline of fruit trees of which your 
subscribers complain goes back to the 
freezes of the Winters of 1902-3, and 1903- 
4. I do not believe that all of the bad 
results of such freezes show at once. I 
have no doubt that the value of spraying 
is over emphasized in many horticultural 
meetings and in much of the literature 
on the subject. The good points are brought 
out and the successes are mentioned but 
little is said of the failures, usually. 
Spraying, while valuable for certain crops 
in certain seasons and in reliable hands, is 
even then only one of the means required 
to secure good crops. G. p. Clinton. 
Connecticut Station. 
In my judgment it would be unwise to ( 
abandon spraying apples, although it is ' 
true that it sometimes results in the spot¬ 
ting of the leaves and russeting of the 
fruit. As a rule spraying does far more 
good than harm. While I do not know 
just how the spray injury comes about, I 
can see no reason for believing that re¬ 
peated spraying makes trees more suscep¬ 
tible to spray injury. It is possible that 
the injury may be reduced by using weak¬ 
er Bordeaux Mixture. At the Experiment 
Station we shall use the 3-3-50 formula the 
coming season. It is evident that our 
present methods of spraying are defective 
and need improvement, f. c. stewart. 
Geneva Station. 
I do not believe that fruit growers are 
overdoing the proper kind of spraying, 
but do believe that many of them are us¬ 
ing the Bordeaux too strong and are not 
careful enough in making it. Every lot 
of Bordeaux ought to be tested with 
ferrocyanide of potassium. I have seen 
injury follow the use of untested Bor¬ 
deaux where not enough lime was pres¬ 
ent as was proved a few hours later by 
testing other lots made exactly like the 
first. It seems now that the question will 
resolve,itself into a determination of what 
different varieties will endure. For in¬ 
stance, the Williams apple in Delaware 
is easily russeted with 4-4-50 Bordeaux 
and it may become necessary to give this 
variety a weaker mixture. I expect to fol¬ 
low up this matter closely this season and 
use different strengths of Bordeaux on dif¬ 
ferent varieties of apples. The “ordinary” 
strength may mean the 4-4-50 formula or 
the 5-5-50 or even a stronger one. It 
seems tQ me now that the trouble you 
speak of is due to the strength of Bor¬ 
deaux used and the way it is made and 
applied. There is still too much sprink¬ 
ling passing under the name of spraying. 
I am not ready to admit that Bordeaux 
Mixture of moderate strength, 4-4-50, 
properly made and applied, is weakening 
the trees or causing them to become less 
resistant to diseases, but on the other hand 
believe it is making them more vigorous 
and resistant. c. p. close. 
Delaware Station. 
I see no reason why Bordeaux Mixture 
of the proper strength should have a 
cumulative ill effect upon trees. Certain it 
is that foliage partially destroyed by in¬ 
sects or fungi cannot do the work which 
is required to maintain a vigorous, healthy 
growth of the trees; and it is well known 
that leaves which are not injured by an 
improperly made Bordeaux are universal¬ 
ly of better color and texture than are 
those leaves upon the same tree which are 
not treated. I think there is more danger 
of under-doing than of over-doing the 
matter of spraying with fungicides, pro¬ 
vided of course, that the materials are 
properly combined and properly applied. 
Maine Station. w. m. munson. 
From our experience with Bordeaux 
Mixture, which we have used continuously 
on our apple trees for the past 14 years, I 
cannot agree with the fruit growers who 
believe that Bordeaux Mixture is having 
the effect of weakening the trees and mak¬ 
ing them less able to resist disease than 
formerly. Our trees have been sprayed 
regularly with 4-4-40 formula Bordeaux 
three to five times each year, and I may 
say that at the present time we have prac¬ 
tically no Apple spot in our orchard. Some 
seasons when the climatic conditions cause 
a softening of the epidermis of the apple, 
such as a season when there is much 
cloudy and damp weather, we have noticed 
that some varieties of apples are russeted 
by the Bordeaux Mixture. Last season 
was one of this kind, but the injury is con¬ 
fined to but few kinds. The Ben Davis is 
one which suffers the most. We have not 
had any injury from the burning of foliage 
when the mixture has been properly made. 
W. T. MACOUN. 
Ottawa (Canada) Station. 
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Oceanic, N.J., Nov. 22d, 1905. 
Bonora Chemical Co., 584 Broadway, New York. 
Gentlemen:— 
I am using your “ BONORA ” for the last two 
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Poeantico Hills, N.Y., October 4th, 1905. 
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Oceanic, N. J., Nov. 15. 1905. 
Bonora Chemical Co., 
584 Broadway, N. Y. 
Dear Sir:— 
Having given " BONORA ” a good test, both 
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Gardener to M. C. D. Borden, Esq., Oceanic, N.J. 
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