Page 12 



BETTER FRUIT 



October. igiQ 



Comparative Efficiency of the Spray Gun 



By Prof. R. B. Cruickshank, Experiment Station, Ohio State University. 



PERHAPS the one outstanding sav- 

 ing effected during the past sea- 

 son was by the use of ttie spray gun. 

 The spray gun happened in the nick 

 of time and proved to be a godsend to 

 the hard-pressed grower who had suf- 

 ficient pioneering spirit to buy one 

 even in the face of what seemed to be 

 a big price. The spray gun has defi- 

 nitely proven its value, to the fruit 

 grower with a power sprayer, in three 

 fundamental ways — in the saving of 

 time, in the saving of labor, and in the 

 saving of spray material. 



People are usually slow to adopt 

 new practices, especially when those 

 practices are opposed to current con- 

 ception, but the spray gun has been 

 taken up by growers all over the coun- 

 try in a brief time. It came, it was 

 seen, it conquered. 



Of course, doubts and objections 

 were advanced. In the first place, 

 some said that it could not do the 

 amount and quanlit\ of the work 

 claimed for it. It sounded too good. 



One objection raised was that it 

 would not force the spray into the 

 calyx at the time of the first coddling 

 moth application. We had been using 

 angle nozzles and laboring under the 

 supposition that the material must be 

 sprayed into the blossom cup with 

 considerable force. Probably that is 

 correct with the ordinary nozzle, but 

 the spray gun seems able to diffuse 

 such a fog of spray throughout the 

 tree that plenty of poison is lodged in 

 the place where it will be most un- 

 healthy for the apple-worm. Answers 

 to a questionnaire which I addressed 

 to a large number of growers recently 

 were practically unanimous in that 

 they had fewer worms than usual. 



Another point of practicability 

 raised was the possible injury to the 

 fruit and leaves, due to very high 

 pressure used. There have been but 

 few instances of any such injury, and 

 in all cases this has been traced to the 

 fact that the gun was held close up 

 and the spray dashed into the foliage 

 on "high." If the operator Is work- 

 ing rapidly and does not care to shut 

 off the gun too much, he should en- 

 deavor to spray the lower side of the 

 tree at some distance, gradually going 

 higher as he approaches the tree. 



The matter of the amount of spray 

 has also been answered in a way com- 

 plimentary to the spray gun. Except 

 in the early work before a man be- 

 comes accustomed to it, the usual an- 

 swer is that the gun uses less material 

 than the nozzles. Some growers have 

 experienced an economy in spraying 

 even fairly small trees. 



I believe that where lack of control 

 of orchard pests has been experi- 

 enced, the cause may be assigned to 

 application at a time just aside from 

 the critical one, to the use of too low 

 a pressure or to lack of thoroughness 

 on the part of the operator. All these 



apply equally to the rod and nozzle. 

 The great danger in the use of the 

 spray gun verily appears in its great 

 capacity. It may lead men to an 

 undue elation and an unconscious 

 carelessness, resulting in the trees get- 

 ting the proverbial "lick and a prom- 

 ise." I have found but two men in 

 Ohio who, after a fair trial of the 

 gun, are willing to go back to the rod 

 and nozzle. The first man's reason 

 was that "he couldn't work fast 

 enough to keep up with the gun"; and 

 the second one's was that "the spray 

 men could not keep from getting them- 

 selves drenched and so preferred the 

 long rods." In opposition to this ob- 

 jection most men have found that it 

 was easier to keep out of the mist. 



The spray gun is efficient only as 

 an accessory to a power outfit that is 

 capable of maintaining about 200 

 pounds pressure. Some men use them 

 with less, most men prefer more. 



This immediately brings up the 

 question of the power sprayer to the 

 man who does not possess one. We 

 believe in Ohio that a man who has as 

 few as five acres of orchard can af- 

 ford to buy a power outfit. I have 

 known men to make them pay and pay 

 well on three acres. The introduction 

 of the spray gun has added another 

 argument for the power sprayer. In 

 comparison with a barrel outfit, the 

 power sprayer is more rapid, more ef- 

 ficient, a saver of time, temper, labor, 

 and material. The man who is still 

 handicapping himself with a barrel 

 sprayer has no cause to complain 

 about the scarcity or high price of la- 

 bor. For him the power sprayer of- 

 fers a definite economy. 



The tendency even in the hilliest of 

 orchard sections is toward the larger 

 and more powerful machines. If there 

 is a question as to the advisability of 

 buying a duplex or a triplex machine, 

 it should be well considered before 

 choosing the lighter one. 



BEST SERVICE- 

 .PRICES 



ijapj^^: 



Cherries by Parcel Post 



During the season, says the Payette 

 Independent, it was learned that at a 

 town up the road a grocery store was 

 selling sweet cherries at retail at 20 

 cents per pound. The dealer was asked 

 if he could use some cherries of the 

 same varieties at 10 cents per pound, 

 and he said he could not. Develop- 

 ments: H. Harland inserted a small 

 ad. in the local paper of the town of- 

 fering to deliver, by parcel post, cher- 

 ries in 20-pound crates at $2.00 and 

 .'{!2.50 each per crate. Mr. Harland has 

 been busy filling the orders that have 

 come in. A decent profit on fruit raised 

 in Payette Valley, a fair rate of trans- 

 portation and the distribution would 

 be such that all the fruit would find a 

 welcome in homes of people wanting it, 

 but who are prohibited too often from 

 having it because of the middle man's 

 large percentage of profit and big trans- 

 portation charges. 



FRUIT 



'1423-24 NORTHWESTERN BANK BLDG. 

 PORTLAND.OREGON. 



E.Shelley Morgan 



NORTHWESTER N MANA GER 



WE CARRY-AND CAN SHIP IN 24 

 HOURS-STOCK LABELS FOR PEARS, 

 , APPLES.CHERRIES a STRAWBERRIES. 



No Orchard or Farm is Complete 

 Without Our Latest Model 



COMMERCIAL SIZE 



All Purpose Evaporator 



Write for Folder D. 



HOME EVAPORATOR CO. 



ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI 



Willamette Valley Apple Orchard 



OREGON 



For sale, 18 acres, of which 10 acres are in 

 apples, 10 years old; 5i Yellow Newt owns, 

 balance Grimes Golden, Winter Banana and 

 Yellow Transparent; some pears, peaches, 

 cherries and small fruits. Four-room bun- 

 galow, good barn, 4 chicken houses, good well. 

 Four miles from Corvallis on Philomath (hard ) 

 road; '^ mile to school. Price $9,000, half 

 cash. Address 



Box 782, Roundup, Montana 



THE SELF-OILING WINDMILL 



haa become so popular in its first four years that 

 thousands have been called for to replace, on their 

 old towers, other makes of mills, and to replace, at 

 small cost, the gearing of the earlier 

 Aermotors. making them self-oil- 

 ing. Its enclosed motor 

 keeps in the oil and 

 keepB out dust and 

 rain. The Splash Oil- 

 ing System constantly 

 floods every bearing with oil, pre- , 

 venting wear and enabling the 

 mill to pump in the lightest breeze. 

 The oil supply is renewed once a year. 

 Double Gears are used, each carrying half the load. 

 We make Gasoline Engines, Pumps. Tanks, 

 Water Supply Goods and Steel Frame Saws. 



Write AERMOTOR CO., 2500 Twelfth SL, Chicago 



WHEN WRITING ADVERTISERS MENTION BETTER FRUIT 



