es) PA iy 
wih Ratha 
New YorK AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 273 
part Ca(OH),; III, one part CuSO,-+ two parts of Ca(OH),, 
gave exactly the same results.” Sturgis found that two parts of 
lime to one of copper sulphate in a very weak solution did not 
prevent injury. According to him:” “ Bordeaux mixture of the 
2-4-50 formula can not be unconditionally recommended for use 
upon peach trees. Although somewhat less injurious to the foli- 
age and decidedly less so to the fruit of certain varieties, than 
the stronger mixtures, it nevertheless causes in some cases a 
marked deterioration both in the quantity and the quality of 
the fruit.” 
Scott’s in a comparatively recent bulletin recommends an ex- 
cess of lime: “ When russeting is feared it might be advisable 
to use less bluestone and a greater quantity of lime in the prep- 
aration of bordeaux mixture for application to the very young 
fruit. The mixture used in spraying stone fruits (3 pounds of 
bluestone and 9g pounds of lime to 50 gallons of water) is sug- 
gested.” 
I am not to be understood as claiming that there may not be 
some slight advantages in the use of an excess of lime; in a wet 
season an excess of lime may make the mixture more adhesive; 
it probably delays the fungicidal action of the copper salts, an 
advantage in controlling scab in a wet season; and it may possi- 
bly have a greater influence in preventing injury. on the leaves 
of apples than on the fruit, my experiment having been only 
with the fruit. However, I am extremely doubtful if it has any 
practical value in preventing injury on the foliage of apples. 
There are disadvantages in the use of an excess of lime worth 
considering. A gritty lime wears out spraying machinery. A 
mixture containing more than four or five pounds to 50 gallons 
is harder to apply uniformly, and makes pumping harder; and large 
particles of lime offer a resisting surface to drops of rain so that 
more of the mixture is washed from trees. This is an important 
point, for a fungicide is of value in proportion to its adhesive 
power and it is certain that this power is greatly reduced by an 
excess of lime. 
It is to be hoped that the foregoing investigation, with the 
experiments of Mueller and Schander, the experience of apple 
growers in this State, and of horticulturists in other ‘States, will 
stamp out the error into which spraying practice has fallen re- 
(sires C50," p. 227). 
Pe cottt52-p, 27): 
