388 BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE. 



same strainer enough water to fill your spray tank; then, after another 

 agitation by the pump, you will have a more thorough mixture, with no 

 additional worli, than that secured by the old method. 



If possible, be with the sprayers yourself all the time. Have men who 

 can take their turns with the rod and the pump so as to keep up a high 

 pressure constantly, even though they do have to change off eveiy half 

 hour. Without high pressure it is impossible to accomplish the best re- 

 sults. 



The man who is holding the rod must be careful, thorough and take 

 an interest in his work or he is more than worthless and will certainly 

 insure you a failure in his work. The loss or profit of each tree he 

 sprays is determined largely by the thoroughness of his work. To do 

 what I call a thorough job of spraying, he must cover with a fine mist 

 produced by high pressure the upper and lower part of every limb, branch 

 and leaf— in fact if he does not cover the entire surface of the tree and 

 then stop, the tree is not sprayed, it is only partially sprayed or else over- 

 sprayed. This is the place where the largest part of the failures are 

 made. Remember, it is not the amount you put on a tree, but the thor- 

 ough distribution of the mist that counts. Apply until the whole tree, 

 leaves and all, are completely covered with a fine mist and then stop. It 

 you apply the spray longer than this the little drops will run together and 

 you will not have as much solution on your tree as if you had stopped at 

 the proper time. 



Do not be satisfied with the pumper unless he is putting on enough 

 steady pressure to make your rod vibrate and emit a frying sound. After 

 a man has once sprayed with a good strong pressure, as mentioned above, 

 he will not be satisfied with a low pressure. 



Now, the question comes, since we must spray, how many times Is it 

 necessary? That depends altogether on the orchard, season, pests to be 

 fought and whether or not the orchard has been sprayed the previous year. 

 Generally speaking, if the orchard has been thoroughly sprayed at the 

 proper time, two or three times, the past season and the next spring 

 should be bright, sunshiny weather, there is but little danger of the scab 

 bothering. In such a case I would be satisfied in applying the first spray 

 just after the bloom has fallen; the second time seven days later, and the 

 third time about the first of July. If the spring is damp before the blos- 

 soms open apply one additional application just before they open. If the 

 orchard has never been sprayed, I certainly would give it the first applica- 

 tion before the fiower buds open and the following ones as above stated. 

 Would use four by four by one-fourth formula for bordeaux. 



The amount of interest that can be made on money invested in spray- 

 ing will depend on chemicals used and the mixture of same; time and thor- 

 oughness of application and knowing how to sell the quality of fruit raised 

 after it has been harvested. 



I believe that no money invested in a bearing orchard will return a 

 greater per cent, of interest than that spent in thorough and economical 



