SPRAYING 159 



trees or disease has taken hold of the crop, and then 

 start his spraying. He has to get there first. 



4. Be prepared early. This is good advice with all 

 sorts of farm work, but in spraying, where a delay 

 of even a day or two may spell ruin to the crop, 

 nothing should be put off, nothing overlooked, noth- 

 ing taken for granted. Every bit of apparatus and 

 all needed chemicals should be inventoried and the 

 list scrupulously checked before spraying time 

 comes round. 



5. Spray early. If the work is allowed to lag and 

 come along two weeks or a month late, it is likely 

 to be much less effective or wholly worthless. 



6. Do not spray while the trees are in bloom. It 

 is never necessary, it is even dangerous to the blos- 

 soms, and it is always dangerous to bees. 



7. Solutions of sulphur or copper sulphate are 

 hard on tin or galvanized iron. They should always 

 be stored in wooden, earthen or glass vessels. Pump 

 cylinders should be of brass for use with Bordeaux 

 mixture, but for lime-sulphur should be of iron. 



8. Several of the spray chemicals, as arsenate of 

 lead, are deadly poison. They should be treated as 

 such. They should always be fully labeled, marked 

 "POISON," and kept well out of reach of children, 

 preferably under lock and key. 



