54 PROTECTION OF PLANTS, 1918-19 



may arise. Spraying is not like threshing or wood cutting, the work must be 

 done at certain definite times. The responsibiUty for the care of the machine, 

 and its availabihty to each grower when it is needed is too uncertain. Also the 

 labour difficulty is not solved. By adding a man and team of horses to the com- 

 munity machine, however, the equipment can be made more efficient and work- 

 able. The service of the spray machine is then obtainable by contract for the 

 season at a definite charge for the acre. To obtain the most from such an arrange- 

 ment the following suggestions are made:* 



1 . The sprayman should be reliable and should thoroughly understand the 

 methods used. 



2. The sprayman should provide the sprayer, team and spray materials, 

 and charge a certain price for an acre for each application. 



3. The sprayman should be required to use a recommended formula (5-5-50 



or 4-4-50), to spray at certain intervals (10 to 15 days) and to spray a certain 

 number of times (at least 5). 



4. Growers wishing to have a stronger mixture, more frequent applications 

 and a greater number of applications would of course have to pay more for the 

 sprayer's service. 



5. All of these matters should be contained in a written contract between 

 each grower and the sprayman. 



6. The grower should provide convenient facilities for securing water and 

 at least 4 good tight 50 gallon barrels for mixing purposes. 



7. The sprayman should be careful not to engage too large an acreage. 

 Weather conditions may cut the available time for spraying to one-half of the 

 total number of days necessary to make a circuit of the fields. One hundred 

 acres is probably all that should be handled. The territory covered by his con- 

 tracts must be limited also, or much time will be lost in getting from one place to 

 another and thus the charge will be higher. 



If there is no energetic person willing to organize the community and secure 

 contracts and himself do the spraying, the organization can be perfected by the 

 community itself. Then some one man or a committee acting for the growers 

 wanting the service can hire the labor, buy the machine and arrange the spraying 

 schedule. 



The advantages of such a cooperation, besides furnishing the spraying at a 

 minimum cost, are that a single individual doing nothing but spray potatoes. 



* F. C. Stewart, Botanist of the New York Agr. Exp. Sta. collaborated with the writer in 

 formulating this plan of community potato spraying for the New York Food Supply Commission 

 in 1917. 



