228 Report OF THE BOTANICAL DEPARTMENT OF THE 
FARMERS’ BUSINESS EXPERIMENTS. 
During the.season of 1908 fourteen farmers in different 
parts of the State conducted business experiments for the 
Station. The object of these experiments is to determine the 
actual profit in spraying potatoes under farm conditions. The 
methods employed were essentially the same as in previous 
years. An accurate record was kept of all of the expense of 
spraying, including labor, chemicals and wear of machinery. 
In each experiment a strip of three to six rows was left un- 
sprayed for comparison. 
In. order to bring the account of the experiments within 
the required space limit it has been necessary to omit many 
interesting details. 
“ Spraying,” as used in this bulletin, means the application 
of bordeaux mixture exclusively. The application of paris 
green or arsenite of soda in lime water is not called spraying. 
Whenever ‘arsenite of soda” is mentioned it should be 
understood to mean the stock solution prepared by the Kedzie 
formula—one pound white arsenic, four pounds sal soda and 
one gallon of water boiled together twenty minutes. 
By “test rows” is meant the rows used in determining the 
amount of the increase in yield due to spraying. These are, 
usually, the middle unsprayed row and the second sprayed 
row on either side. 
The yields given are for marketable tubers only. 
The price used in computing the value of the increased yield 
is, in every case, the market price for: potatoes in the locality 
where the experiment was made on the date on which the test 
rows were dug, | 

