126 



POPULAR FRUIT GROWING. 



to clean out the tank and remove the coarse sediment which 

 collects in the bottom. A better method of providing for agi- 

 tation is by means of a rod running lengthwise of the tank, with 

 perforated cross pieces about six or eight inches high, cut 

 rounding to fit in the bottom of the tank, and twelve to sixteen 

 inches wide, attached at every two and one-half or three feet. 

 There are two methods of giving this apparatus the alternating 

 backward and forward movement nec-essary for agitation. Prob- 

 ably the most common way is by means, of a chain drive from 

 one of the hind wheels of the wagon. This method, of course, 

 supplies agitation only when the wagon is in motion and is 

 therefore to some extent open to the same objections as the 

 preceding method. It has the advantage, however, of giving 



more thorough agitation while 

 it is working and of being 

 such a simple arrangement 

 that it can easily be made, 

 and th-ere is little about it to 

 get out of order. The other 

 method of supplying the mo- 

 tion to the agitator is by hav- 

 ing it connected with the 

 pump. Up to the present 

 time no really substantial 

 method of connection has 

 been devised, and little pro- 

 vision has been made for 

 regulating the amount of agi- 

 tation given. Usually this 

 agitator gives more agitation 

 than is needed. It will, how- 

 ever, probably be the best 

 method when it has become perfected, because it is con- 

 tinuous. Provision is sometimes made for hand operation of the 

 agitator by means of a handle fastened in the top of the tank. 



The working parts of pumps and the lining of the bamboo 

 spray poles should be of brass for most spraying compounds. 

 If the parts are made of iron they are liable to ordinary rust- 

 ing and to corrosion by Bordeaux mixture and similar corn- 



Fig. 57. Barrel sprayer. 



