Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-11-08

BORDEAUX MIXTURE.
Sew Method of Preparing 1t Described mt
Meeting of Scientists.

BOROERON via OhG.
Sew Method of Preparing II Described ut
Meeting of Scientists.
At the recent meeting Of the Associa-
ion of Agricultural Scientists Mr. Swim
gle OF the department Of agriculture do
sclibed a new method Of preparing Dor
heaux, Il summary of which is given by
Rural New Yorker as follows
Where bordeaux mixture is used on
an extensive scale it pays to prepare
stock solutions Of both the copper sui
phate and tho lime The stock solution
i of copper sulphate is prepared by dis
solving i'll IL barrel holding 80 gallons
of water, 100 pounds of the bluestone.
The latter is dissolved by suspending it
in a sack just beneath the surface Of the
: liquid. The usual plan is to put into
! the barrel 90 gallons Of water and then
mark the point Wlcle the LIQUID stands.
About orc-ihild Of the water il then
poured out, and the 80 pounds Of conner
sulphatc which has been ls, y'ously lied
in coarse gUnuy stcl, uspcnded
over The Cls" Cf tie r.r"ol 0.l allowed
10 reach Just lcacdth the t..liace Of tie
liquid
When all the copper svlphato is dis
solved, the empty bag is t@k,l ont, and
sufficient quantity Of pure water is
added to bring the solution il the bar
rel up to 80 gallon mark again 1t Will
be seen that every gallon Of the liquid
contains about two pounds of copper sui
phate i'll solution This stock solution is
set away III convenient place, and
when wanted is drawn from the barrel
through Il wooden spigot at the bottom.
The stock lime preparation is made i'll
much the same way. Fifty pounds Of
lime are placed i'll a barrel and then
slabed in the usual fashion. When
slaked, sufficient water is added to bring
the whole mass up to previously de-
termined 30 gallon mark
The stock lime is also stored in some
convenient place, but it is best to AZ
range to remove what is wanted from
the topof the barrel rather than attempt
to draw it off through spigot.
To prepare bordeaux mixture it is
necessary to take a certain number Of
gallons Of the copper sulphate solution
and certain number of the lime solu-
ton and mix them i'll some suitable
vessel Mr.. Swingle find that the more
concentrated the two preparations are
when poured together the less satisfac-
tory Will be the resulting mixture. BOr-
deauX mixture, when made from such
concentrated preparations, is likely to
he flaky and granular and will very
soon settle. He recommends therefore
that i'll making the mixture both the
lime and the copper sulphate solution
should be greatly diluted before bring
ing them together. Mr.. Swingle would
prepare what we ordinarily call the 80
gallon bordeaux mixture as follows: Di-
lutte three gallons of the stock solution
of copper sulphate with water to 20 or
% gallons In another vessel pour two
gallons of the stock lime preparation
and dilute this with about Is gallons of
water. Pour the copper sulphate solu-
ton and the lime preparation slowly to-
gether and then stir thoroughly for two
or three minutes with long handled,
broad bladed wooden paddle. 1t will be
seen that this mixture contains six
pounds of copper sulphate and four
pOuutlS VI lime.
Mr.. Swingle suggests a simple meth
cd, which, if used when the first barrel
Of bordeaux mixture is made up, would
answer until the stock copper sulphate
solution and the stock lime are exhaust
ed. OF course when new supply of the
stock preparations is made up it will be
necessary again to test the first barrel of
che mixture. All that is required TO
make the test is an ordinary penknife
and piece of emery paper. The knife
blade is inserted for a couple of minutes
in the mixture, and if there is any free
copper present it will show as a thin
film on the steel blade of the knife. If
there is no free copper present, the knife
blade will not be furnished. If the knife
blade shows the presence Of copper, it is
only necessary to add Il small quantity
Of lime. The emery paper is used sim
ply to remove the copper film from the
knife blade Half minutes polishing
with the paper will put the blade in
condition for another test.