302 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April 7, 
stances by such names I learned afterward, and will try 
to explain for the benefit of the primary class, in a fu¬ 
ture article, but I found myself standing on the thres¬ 
hold of a door that was opening into a room where all 
was vague and indistinct. So it seems now—but this 
was destined to teach me some of the mysteries of 
plant life and growth. m. garrahan. 
SPRAYING WITH DRY BORDEAUX. 
Have any new developments been made in “spray¬ 
ing" with Bordeaux dust? What is thought of it? 
As is pretty well known, “dry” Bordeaux is a dust 
of lime and sulphate of copper blown over the trees 
or plants with a bellows. It settles upon the trees in 
a dust instead of coating them as a liquid does. The 
latest directions for making the powder are given by 
Prof. R. M. Bird of the Missouri Experiment Station 
as follows: 
DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING ABOUT 250 POUNDS OF TOWDER. 
Materials: 1 barrel good quicklime; 10 pounds copper 
sulphate (“blue stone,” “blue vitriol") ; 2 quantities of 
water, of 4 gallons each; 1 wire sieve, about 18 inches across, 
having 25 to 30 meshes to the linear inch; 3 vessels, two 
that will hold about 5 gallons each, and one 10 gallons or 
more. 1. Dissolve the blue stone in four gallons of hot or 
warm water. This may he done more easily by hanging it 
in a coarse hag just below the surface of the water. The 
solution when cold, is practically saturated. 2. Pick from 
the barrel of lime five pounds of the whitest and best lumps. 
Slack the rest to a fine, perfectly dry dust and spread it on 
a floor. 3. From the selected five pounds of lime and four 
gallons of water make a good “milk of lime.” 4. Pour the 
cold milk of lime and cold copper sulphate solution at the 
same time into a third vessel, and stir until no streaks of 
a green substance are to he seen in the resulting blue, thick 
mass. 5. Scatter the blue material (water and all) about 
in the lime dust and mix with a rake. The lime will absorb 
the water. (>. While this is still somewhat damp pass it 
through the sieve, using a wooden block to rub it through 
with. 7. Mix thoroughly and spread out to dry. A day 
or two will he required for it to become thoroughly dry. 
It will keep indefinitely. If it Is desired that more copper 
he present, use proportionately more lime and water. In this 
case care must be taken to prevent caking while the final 
mixture with lime dust is drying. One may add finely 
ground Paris-green as an insecticide for canker-worm or Cod¬ 
ling moth, 12% or 13 pounds to the above quantity is a 
good proportion. The dust is applied to the trees with any 
of the standard dust spraying machines, better while the 
tree is wet with rain or dew. 
Most Useful in Greenhouse. 
I think that there is no doubt but what this Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture contains essentially the same compounds 
secured in the liquid Bordeaux Mixture. Used in 
greenhouses for Carnation rust and certain other dis¬ 
eases where a powder is preferable to a spray, it has 
given splendid results. I think it probable, judging 
from the experience of some of the largest apple grow¬ 
ers in Missouri, that this dry Bordeaux Mixture will 
fill a useful place. Some of our growers have orchards 
so large that it is not possible for them to spray 
these orchards properly with the heavy liquid sprays. 
1 he number of men and teams employed for all of 
the other details of orchard work during the year 
is not sufficient to do the spraying with the liquid 
at the proper season. In some cases there are not 
enough teams in the neighborhood to spray some of 
these large orchards with the liquid. In the southern 
part of this State, in the Ozark section, some of the 
best fruit lands are on very steep hillsides, where liquid 
spraying is difficult. Again, during the spraying sea¬ 
son, in early Spring, the land is often in very soft 
condition, so it is impossible to haul a heavy load of 
liquid spray at the time when early spraying should be 
done. We have several large orchards growing where 
not enough water can be secured adjacent to the or¬ 
chard properly to spray it. These people have to use 
the dry fungicide or nothing. Many of them claim 
that they get fairly satisfactory results with this dry 
Bordeaux where they cannot use the liquid. In fact, 
I may add that many of pur most prominent commer¬ 
cial orchardists believe much more fully in this dry 
spray than I do myself. While we have secured very 
satisfactory results in using the dry Bordeaux Mixture 
in the greenhouse (where we can use it in practically 
any quantity, and where neither winds nor rains inter¬ 
fere with its application or with its clinging to the foli¬ 
age), our results with it in the orchard have not been 
sufficiently satisfactory for me to recommend it when¬ 
ever the liquid spray can be applied. Personally, I be¬ 
lieve that the liquid fungicides will continue to be used 
in preference to the dust forms wherever it is feasible 
to apply the liquid. I might further add that the dust 
sprayclings to the trees after they are in full lea*f some¬ 
what better than one would anticipate. The hairiness 
of the leaves and of the calyx end of the young fruit 
enables it to catch a good deal of the dust. For early 
spraying before the trees have come out in leaf, we have 
not been able to get anything but a liquid Bordeaux 
Mixture to stick. j. d. whitten. 
Mo. Experiment Station. 
Not Likely to Displace Liquid. 
Such experiments as I did carry on with this form 
of fungicide did not impress me that it would be at all 
likely to supersede the liquid form in the East. As a 
supplementary method and for certain crops, it has its 
advantages; but the trouble is that the fruit grower 
and the farmer of to-day have more machinery forced 
on them now than they can afford to carry, and I 
do not see any good reason for the purchase of two 
sets of spraying apparatus. A recent visit to the 
Ozark region of Missouri and Arkansas, where they 
plant trees much closer than in the East, because the 
trees do not live so long, suggested that perhaps on 
these rather steep hillsides where it is difficult to trans- 
i 
ROUND BARN AT A SHAKER COMMUNITY. Fig. 122. 
port heavy tanks of water, the dry fungicides might be 
used advantageously; but I do not know that the proc¬ 
ess is making rapid progress even in those sections. 
Cornell University. john craig. 
Has Given Good Results. 
We have tested the dry spray, or dust, on our 
orchards in south Missouri, at Goodman. Mo.; Lanagan, 
Mo., and Gentry, Ark., orchards of 2,000 acres, where 
we used five large machines. The late Spring frosts 
killed the apple bloom so badly that the results are not 
as definite as expected, but where the injury by frost 
was light there we dusted heavily five times and se¬ 
cured a good crop of Jonathan. We feel sure that it 
is a good preventive measure, if adopted in time while 
the trees are young and diseases and insects are not 
too much scattered or established throughout the or¬ 
chards. Continued use of the dust spray will tend 
to hold in check the fungus diseases and insect pests; 
at least this has been our experience, although not as 
successful in combating them as we should wish, which 
we attribute to the continuous rains, at least in part. 
Missouri. l. a. Goodman, 
Unsatisfactory Except tor Codling Moth. 
Our results have been unsatisfactory in the treatment 
of fungus diseases. We are inclined to accept the 
STRAWBERRIES YEAR AFTER YEAR. Fig. 123. 
statements of the leading Missouri orchardists that 
they are preventing the Codling moth by dusting/ We 
have no doubt that when the Codling moth is not too 
serious a pest thorough dusting will yield good results, 
at least will produce crops very much superior to those 
from untreated trees. When it comes to the question 
of treating Apple scab and Apple bitter-rot, Pear leaf- 
blight, black rot of the grape, or fungus diseases of that 
type which require very thorough spraying, we are 
very much in doubt as to whether dust spraying can 
ever be used with complete success. In fact, as I am 
informed, no experimenters have ever reported satis¬ 
factory results in the treatment of such diseases by dust¬ 
ing. Even with the liquid sprays, they must be properly 
made, thoroughly applied, and the applications must be 
timely, in order to secure good results. We do not like 
to discourage experimenting with dust sprays; in fact, 
we feel quite the opposite, and we are planning to 
carry on further experiments ourselves. There are 
many mountain orchards or hillside vineyards so situ¬ 
ated that it is almost impossible to get water to them 
for making the spraying mixtures, or to haul the 
spraying tanks between the rows. The successful 
treatment by dusting would be a great boon to orchards 
or vineyards so situated, and, in fact, would probably 
be much more economical for use on level land. In 
the present state, of our knowledge, however, we can¬ 
not advise the commercial orchardist to rely upon dust¬ 
ing unless he is so situated that it is not practicable to 
spray with Bordeaux Mixture to which Paris-green 
or arsenate of lead is added. M. b. waite. 
Dept, of Agriculture. 
HOW TO LAY A SLATE ROOF. 
In the issue of May 14, 1004, ,T. II. II., Steubenville, Ohio, 
says he can give a plan whereby slate may he laid about 
as cheaply as the best shingles and save one-third cost of 
regular way of laying. I would like to hear from him. 
Pennsylvania.. j. v. d. 
I send diagram and will try to make it clear. 
1 his represents the first and second courses of slate. 
As you see the slate are laid long way parallel with 
roof. Beginning at end nail first slate projecting 2(4 
inches below sheathing board, put nail near lower left 
hand corner of first course and two nails in upper 
side, or if slate is more than 22 inches long, better put 
three nails in upper side. The next slate laps three 
inches endwise on this one, and so all the way across. 
1 he first slate on second course butts against second 
slate on lower course, and laps down on it three inches; 
then follow in the same way clear across, and the same 
up to comb. Nail each slate up the barge board; these 
and the nails in top course are the only ones exposed, 
and by all means use copper nails. 
It is not necessary to sheath solid; get 1x6 boards, 
lay first and second solid, and space the rest so nails 
will come in center of sheathing board, but use slater’s 
felt, as it is cheap, and keeps fine driving snow out, 
which will sift in through any slate roof unless it has 
felt under it. Have slate punched two inches from upper 
side and in three and one-half or four inches from ends; 
the other nail holes you can punch as you lay with 
pick end of slater’s hammer or with an eightpenny wire 
nail. I generally punch my own slate. To do this bore one- 
quarter inch holes in a plank to correspond with where 
they are to be in slate, tack plastering lath guides on it 
with cleats of same across corners, then bore one-eighth 
inch holes in these corner cleats exactly above the 
one-quarter inch holes in plank; punch down through 
one-eighth inch holes with eightpenny nail. The slate 
saved by this system any one can figure. Take a 12 x 24 
slate for instance; laying it regularly it will cover 126 
inches, by this plan 189 inches, then nearly one-half 
the sheathing bill. Do not use oak or any hard wood 
sheathing, as you cannot drive in it, and it warps; get 
hemlock or southern pine; they are the same price here, 
and the pine will outlast the hemlock. j. h. h. 
Ohio. 
HEATED FRAME FOR RHUBARB. 
I have a greenhouse 100 feet long, running east and west; 
the north wall is 4% feet high. Would it he practical to 
make a rhubarb bed on north side of this wall, say six feet 
wide, by enclosing with lumber and covering with hotbed 
sash, and laying a run of hot water pipes for heating It? 
Diease advise the best way I could force some rhubarb in 
connection with greenhouse, as I do not wish to use any of 
present room inside. h. e. w. 
There is no reason why a heated frame on the north 
side of your greenhouse may not prove satisfactory for 
forcing rhubarb, from the fact that sunshine is not 
required in this operation. The temperature required 
is not less than 45 degrees, and may range from that 
mark up to 70 degrees, but the rhubarb grown cool will 
be of much better quality than that grown at 70, though 
the crop will be slower. The roots to be forced should 
be dug up in the Autumn and then allowed to freeze 
thoroughly before they are submitted to the forcing 
process, but are best protected from the sun in order to 
avoid alternate freezing and thawing. When ready to 
be used they may be packed in the frame with just 
enough soil to fill in the interstices between the roots, 
and may need one watering. After the crop has all 
been pulled, the old roots have no further value, and 
may be thrown away. It would be a wise precaution 
to have an entrance to the frame from the greenhouse, 
in order to permit the crop to be gathered in bad 
weather, and it would add considerably to the regularity 
of the heating if the outside wall of the frame were 
banked up with either earth or manure. In building the 
frame allowance must be made for sufficient headroom 
for the crop, a depth of three feet in front being neces¬ 
sary to keep the strong growths from touching the 
glass and thus getting frozen. w. h. taplin. 
