The seeds of various cereals are often dipped in hot water formalin solution and copper sul phate solution to destroy fungous spores, and hot water is also used to some extent for destroying exposed fungi, spores, etc.
All solutions must be applied as a mist-like spray, to ensure which a nozzle with a small aperture is essential. The first application to fruit trees should be before the buds begin to swell. This may be a stronger solution than those used after growth starts. The second should be given when the buds begin to swell, the third when the blossoms have fallen. No spray should be given during the blossoming period. A favorite fungicide for ripening fruits is the ammoniacal copper carbonate solu tion, made by dissolving one ounce of copper carbonate in a pint of ammonia, to which are added 10 gallons of water. Lime-sulphur solution is also an efficient fungicide. It is made by boiling fresh lime and sulphur to gether, or by slaking lime in contact with sul phur. It is also used as an insecticide. Sulphur
is a favorite remedy for various mildews. It is dusted in the foliage with a blower, but in greenhouses is evaporated. The usual apparatus for applying fungicides to plant foliage consists of a tank or container which can be made air tight, a hose with special nozzle which pro duces a mist-like spray and an air pump. By means of the pump air is forced into the tank containing the liquid, which then issues under pressure at the nozzle and is converted by the latter into a spray. All types of sprayer com bine the above features in one form or an other. (See FUNGI; BACTERIA). Consult Lode man, 'The Spraying of Plants' (New York 1902) ; Prillieu, 'Maladie des plantes a,gricoles' (1895) ; Massee, 'Text-book of Plant Diseases) (New York 1899) ; Duggar, 'Fungous Diseases of Plants' (New York 1909) ; Stevens and Hall, 'Diseases of Economic Plants' (ib. 1910) ; various bulletins of the United States Department of Agriculture and of many of the State Agricultural Experiment Stations.