YoL. I. No. ]G. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



249 



•consi-steil of a small portable ii;iui|iiiij; engine, similar to 

 those used in fire engines, which ]iuiii|pe(l water from a stream, 

 iiii.\ed it with a definite iirojiortion of concentrated insecti- 

 cide and jiumped the licjuor into the main jiijie running to 

 the hop garden a quarter of a mile distant. In the lio[) 

 garden smaller pipes branclied off at intervals and led to the 

 rubber hoses which terminated in nozzles. The engine is 

 small and can be readily moved about on a light two-wheeled 

 truck (such as is used for the Fruitall machine i, or can be 

 •carried on poles. It burns wood or coal and raises steam 

 very rapidly. The main piiie to whicli it delivers is of galva- 

 nized steel in 15-foot lengths, and the lengths ca)i lie nqiidly 



be at the source of the water supply over a mile away, 

 and in the excellent work it does. Also the machine 

 can be used where a horse machine or even a lianil machine 

 on wheels could not go. It sjieaks well for the English 

 farmer that such thorough and uii-to-date methods are in 

 use. The apparatus is necessarily costly at the outset, though 

 it would appear to be cheap in u.se, but it is impo.ssible to 

 oover a large area of crop with small machines, nor are they 

 economical in working. Oenerally .speaking a good deal 

 remains to be done in dealing with English pests : this is 

 largely a (juestion for the individual farmer to settle for 

 himself. As far as spraying mncliines are concerned — and 





'\"%:i 









Fig. 10 JIerkyweathek's Portahle .Steam f^i'RAViNO Plant at work ox Fruit Trees ix Kent. 



On the right is the engine which jmiiips the wash into the main pipe shown in the middle of tlie figure, from which it pa.s,se.s 

 into tlie lubber iKJSe used for spraying. 



(From a block kindly lent liy Slessrs. Menyweither it Sous, Gl'eenwich Road, London.) 



joined by flexible couplings. The first branch iiiiies are of 

 rubber and these lead each t:> two branches of smaller hose 

 ending in adjustable nozzles. The pressure at the nozzles 

 is sufficient to give a good spray, and any number of 

 nozzles up to the pumping capacity of the engine may be 

 used at once. The .system appears to be a good one, and 

 the whole plant is quite portable. The main pipe is soon 

 uncoujiled and the complete outfit carried to a fre.sh .spot : 

 it obviates the difficulty of the water supply as the engine 

 may be a long distance froni the fields to be sjirayed. 



The special points in this apparatus consist in the 

 portability of the whole outfit, the fact that the engine can 



these form a large part of the jiroblem — the smaller 

 machines .seem to be distinctly behind those used in America, 

 and it is only in the large outfits that we find the e.xcellence 

 that might be e-xjiected. The lior.se machine is certainly 

 worth adoiiting in the West Indies for ground crojis. For 

 permanent cultivations such as cacao, coflce, oranges, limes, 

 etc., the planter would do well to consider whether it were 

 not cheaper in the end to keep down his jiests thoroughly 

 with a steam apparatus. As an e.xample of what should be 

 done in this way the work done by the Kentish farmer 

 is admirable and deserves the attention of every West 

 Indian planter. 



