SPRAY MANAGEMENT 25 



Hampshire conditions. It delivers a sufficient quantity to supply a 6 to 8 

 nozzle spray rod. and is large enough to cover several hundred bearing 

 trees in three or four days. Considering man labor only, the small ma- 

 chine requires 75 per cent more labor to cover the same orchard as com- 

 pared with the medium machine — an average of 2.0 hours per 100 gallons 

 applied as compared to 1.1 hours. Large machines resulted in greater 

 labor efficiency than the medium-sized ones. 



The data indicate that the medium machines will cover 78 per cent 

 more trees than the small machine and the large machine 44 per cent more 

 than the medium one in the same length of time. The proper size of 

 machine to own depends upon the size and topography of the individual 

 orchard. The large spray machine requires tractor power and can be 

 used to advantage only where the topography is favorable and the or- 

 chard is large. Only a few orchardists are in a position to utilize advan- 

 tageously the very large sprayers. 



The size of the crew to employ will depend upon the time available 

 to cover the orchard as well as the availability and cost of labor. The 

 time available will vary with certain sprays and also the weather. Early 

 in the season, when the delay of a few hours may mean the difference 

 between success and failure in control of scab, a grower may find it 

 necessary to operate the maximum crew in order to obtain the greatest 

 efficiency out of the machine and cover the orchard in as short a time 

 as possible. The cost of man power at such times is not important. With 

 the cover sprays, applied primarily for the control of insects, the need 

 to cover the orchard quickly is not so important and during this period 

 smaller crews may be employed. Thus, early in the season, the important 

 item is to get the applications on at the right time. Late in the season 

 the most economical combination of machine and size of crew can be 

 employed. 



Obviously, if measured in gallons per hour, both man and machine 

 efficiency are greatest when trees are reasonably large and not scattered, 

 a condition which permits continuous operation of the nozzles. When 

 spraying young trees which have been planted wide apart, the nozzle 

 must be shut off while traveling from one tree to another and less spray 

 is applied per machine and per man hour. Spacing young trees at per- 

 manent distance is a logical procedure where land is low in value but 

 it does cost a little more per tree in terms of machine and man hours in 

 spraying in the early period. When fillers are set, these additional trees 

 require little additional time for spraying but, of course, they have only 

 a few years of productive life. Practically all other costs, including that 

 of spray material, is the same as for the permanents. 



Because only a few tanks are required for each spray on small farms, 

 the men have not felt it important to make special provisions for a quick 

 method of filling the tank. On the other hand, on the large farms there 

 is a definite rush to cover the orchard in time which is an incentive to 

 speed up the spray operations. Thus, there is a different philosophy of 

 management and use of labor on some of the small farms as compared 

 to the large ones. In comparison, the large commercial orchadists must 

 use equipment and man power to the limit in the spray periods. 



