May, 1931] Studies in Economics of Apple Orcharding 31 



employnieiit at other times to these men. Therefore, every efficiency 

 made in spraying that will shorten the time required ancl yet prove 

 effective is more important than the mere saving of so many hours 

 would indicate. Any considerable saving in requirement of skilled 

 men in the limited spray period may ease up a serious and difficult 

 management problem. Then. too. this efficiency may avoid the need 

 of additional high-priced outfits. 



Orchard 2 normally had six to seven regular men on account of 

 other crops, and these were available at any time for spraying. Two 

 outfits with three men each can spray the orchard in less than 40 hours 

 of total spraying. Sufficient horses are also available for two crews. 

 If it were not for the other enterprises on this farm, it would be best 

 to reduce the spray crew to the minimum number that could do the 

 work by using all available time. Three men using one large sprayer 

 equipped with large capacity c^uad nozzles could cover the orchard al- 

 most as rapidly and in all probability about as thoroughly as the six 

 men using small capacity guns on two machines. Or the smaller crew 

 might spray as much as possible and supplement with dust. Con- 

 sequently, the problem would be simplified to finding productive work 

 for three men and one team in slack orchard periods. 



In Orchard 7 with a large number of trees the management problem 

 has been met by substituting dusts for some of the liquid sprays. By 

 this means the size of crew is reduced, and it becomes unnecessary to 

 provide productive employment for a number of men during the slack 

 periods between applications. The duster, which requires one horse 

 and two men, makes it possible to cover the large orchard in 13 to 18 

 hours of actual operation. It was used for the early sprays in case 

 of necessity and for all late applications. Considerable expense in 

 maintaining a team or tractor for a second sprayer, which would be 

 necessary if liquid sprays were used exclusively, has been avoided. 

 The importance of the dusting machine from the point of view of man- 

 agement is evident. The value of dusting cannot be judged solely 

 from the number of hours of labor involved, the cost of material, and 

 the degree of control. Its relation to the management problem of the 

 whole season must also be considered. 



Spraying machines are now on the market which will cover the trees 

 almost if not quite as rapidly as does the dust. These are much more 

 expensive than dusting equipment of equal capacity, and in the case 

 of the liquid sprays a much larger proportion of the time is consumed 

 in refilling. 



Horse Hours 



Spraying represents the largest demand on horse labor, requiring 

 on the 12 farms an average of 328 hours per 1,000 mature tree units, 

 (Table 21) or about 40 per cent, of the total requirements up to har- 

 vest. The total amount of horse labor in spraying is relatively unim- 

 portant ; but on account of the demand for horses for short definite 

 periods, horse labor does become a problem, especially on the large, 

 highly specialized apple farms. If the orchard is of medium size so 

 that one spray outfit can do the work, the one team can do in addition 



