The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-08-04
Tomato af-Spot May Be Checked By
 New Soap Emulsion


 addition of resin fish-oil soap to Bor- deaux mixture promises to control to- mato leafspot, although Bordeaux alone has not prevented losses.
 Plant-disease specialists in the Fed eral Department of Agriculture des- cribe the leaf-spot disease as one which causes defoliation of the plants. greatly reducing yields and inferior fruit. Small circular spots develop on the leaves and sometimes on the stems. They first appear as tiny dots, having dark or water-soaked ap- pearance. Gradually they enlarge and turn brown, and the leaves shrive1 up and drop, beginning at the bass of the plant.
 1 Making the Solutions Bordeaux mixture is best prepared by making stock solutions of the sep arate ingredients. The copper sul- phate should be mixed in the propor- tions of gall1n of water, preferably soft water, to pound of the sulphate | crystals and there should be five gal Ions of this stock solution for each acre of tomatoes to be sprayed. The crystals should be dissolved in, the ] usual way by suspending them in a burlap bag which touches the surface of the water; the solution should be we'll stirred.
 The lime suspension or milk of lime, 1 is also a pound to a gallon, but only three fourths as many gallons are needed as of the copper solution, Thus | If there are twenty gallons of the cop 1 per solution there would be only fif- l teen of the lime milk. The lime should be slaked gradually by pouring the water an in small quantities and at in tervals until all has crumbled.. Fin ally larger quantities are added with constant stirring until the volume is ;! completed. If quicklime can not be had and hydrated lime is available use as many pounds of the latter as of cooper sulphate. but do not increase the quantity of water. Air-slaked l lime must not be used.
 The resin fish-o oil soap suspension Is made with pound of soap to gall | lon of water. As with the lime, only three-fourths of the quantity of water is necessary. Hot water will hasten the dissolving of the soap. To avoid the formation of troublesome Jumps the water must be aded slowly at first with constant stirring.
 I Preparing the Mixture
 For general commercial operations two 50-gallon barrels with outlets at the bottom are placed on raised
 platform so their outlets will be high
 CT than the top of tho spray tank. To make 100 gallons measure eight gal Ions of the copper sulphate solution into one barrel and six gallons of the
 milk of lime into the other. Add to each enough water to make forty-sev-
 en gallons. stirring the Contents thor
 oughly, and then let the two solutions
 run with equal rates into trough
 leading. to the spray tank. At the
 same time add six gallons of the resin
 fish-oil soap solution very gradually and in a small stream through the
 spray tank strainer along with the
 copper lime mixture. The copper sul- phate and lime should be mixed be-
 fore the soap is added.
 II Notifications of the method may
 be used for smaller quantities.
 Applying the Spray
 l A traction sprayer such as that em-
 ployed in the spraying of potatoe.
 may be used except where the vines
 are too large. There should be three I'noZzles for each row, one to spray downward and two on the sides spray.
 ing toward each other. These latera , nozzies should be set low and pointed slightly up to get the spray on the P under side of the leaves: Thorough , spraying, repeated at from. seven tt 1 lten day intervals. is necessary for tht , best results, and must be continued through August. When the plants ar, 3 too large for a. traction sprayer in th' ) rows, roadways should be opened ane l the spraying continued with long line = of hose.
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