96 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



durable and lighter. Better yet, is the bamboo pole, in which we find a 

 small brass pipe, with the nozzle at the upper end. The nozzle, I may 

 say, is perhaps often the weakest point in the outfit. For this purpose 

 we want a nozzle that throws a fine stream, and the finer the better. Best 

 of all, perhaps, is to have a double Vermorel nozzle, working both nozzles 

 at one time; a good pump will work four nozzles and we can reach all 

 points with the fine spray. It is wasteful to use a coarse nozzle so that 

 there is a stream rather than a. spray, but by having rods twelve feet 

 long, if you can stand on the wagon, you can be nearly as high as the 

 ordinary fruit tree. Be sure and get an easy working pump. 



WILL SPRAYING PAY? 



Will spraying pay? From our own experience, I am convinced that it 

 will. The farmer with a large area of fruits, or with a small area either, 

 cannot afford to be without some outfit for spraying his trees, and he 

 ought to get a good one, from the fact that it is one of the most unpleas- 

 ant things imaginable to get out in the field and have something go 

 wrong, with two men and a team standing there, or having to send miles 

 to get a broken piece. Get a good pump, spray early and thoroughly. 



It has been suggested that possibly spraying might do harm. Of course 

 it can. Unless you have the mixture properly made, there is great dan- 

 ger of injuring your trees, so I would again refer to my first suggestion, 

 and that was, to post yourself thoroughly in regard to the matter. Then, 

 before treating all your trees, test the mixture on a small scale, and be 

 sure that the spray you have prepared will be right and will not injure 

 the foliage. 



There is a question, too, about injuring the fruit, or the stock perhaps 

 with the poisoned fruit, but analysis shows that if properly sprayed there 

 is at best only a trace of poison on the fruit. If we should go to work 

 and spray our trees in July or August, there might be a chance of this 

 whitewash sticking on it, but we spray in June and use only one part in 

 a thousand, and it will not do any harm and yet is effectual for the pur- 

 pose used. As for injuring stock, that has also been tested; stock is 

 often pastured under sprayed trees, and without evil effect. We spray 

 until the trees begin to drip. 



As to the injury to the soil. The Germans claimed a few years ago 

 that spraying injured the soil, but we find that ordinary garden seeds, 

 tender as they are, will grow where there is perhaps a half per cent of 

 copper sulphate, and we can spray for years without getting anything 

 like that amount in the soil. It was claimed that it injured the soil and 

 there was a great loss of potash. At best, the loss is very small, and if 

 we have lime there, as carbonate, that will stop any loss of potash, so 

 that all along the line, I have yet to hear of any argument that will hold 

 against spraying, provided it is properly done. As to the real profit, it 

 seems to me that it depends largely upon the care of the fruit, the ground 

 and the surroundings. I believe that if a person has a suitable location, 

 and has given his plants good cultivation and the proper supply of plant 

 food, he can greatly reduce the danger from disease. But for all that, I 

 believe that it will pay to spray once or twice all of our fruit crops, and 

 it will pay a hundred fold sometimes. Three to five gallons will spray 



