8 4 

 HINTS ON SPRAYING. 



By C. P. Lounsbury. 



Successful Spraying for insects requires an efficient and 

 properly mixed insecticide applied thoroughly and at the right 

 time with suitable apparatus. Intelligence and experience 

 count for much. The novice should stop his spraying occasion- 

 ally and examine the work to observe its shortcomings. In 

 spraying against any scale insect, every part of the tree attacked 

 by that species should be wetted. This commonly means that every 

 particle of surface from the junction of the tree with the ground 

 (or even a little lower) to the topmost leaf should be sprayed. 

 In spraying for Codling Moth, poison should be lodged plentifully 

 in the blossom end of every fruit and every fruit and leaf should 

 be covered. Means to elevate the nozzle beyond a man's reach 

 is generally necessary, and it is often advisable for the sprayer 

 to stand on a platform supported above the spray wagon. Heavy 

 pressure is desirable ; but the liquids bearing solids in suspension 

 should, as a rule, hit the plant in the form of a very fine mist. 

 Probably no insecticidal wash is wholly harmless to the plant. 

 Hence applications in excess of the requirements should be 

 avoided. Oily sprays, used in excess, are particularly dangerous ; 

 soil at the collar of a tree saturated with one of them should be 

 drawn away. These sprays soften rubber, and will quickly 

 affect rubber valves and suction plates. 



Pumps should be selected with regard to the amount 

 of work to be done and the size of the plants. Syringes and 

 atomisers are practically useless for outdoor spraying, except that 

 syringes are excellent for applying Fruit Fly bait. Knapsack 

 pumps are suitable for newly-set trees and small fields of vines 

 and low growing crops. The best are fitted with an agitator and 

 haying easily accessible working parts. Bucket pumps are only 

 suitable when the number of trees to be sprayed is small. Kinds 

 throwing a jerky spray are bad. Barrel pumps are right for use 

 in large gardens and small commercial orchards, and the more 

 powerful they are the better the results that can be obtained with 

 them. Platform pumps are for extensive spraying. The best 

 are capable of yielding practically as good results as power 

 pumps. Power pumps, generally run with petrol engines, are 

 considered indispensable by most American orchardists who have 

 to treat overmen acres of trees. They have the decisive advantage 

 of easily maintaining a high pressure and are commonly operated 

 at 150 to 200 Ibs. The high cost of petrol and of skilled labour 

 prevents their common use in South. Africa. Nozzles of the 

 "Vermorer' type give the finest spray with the minimum of 

 pressure. Disk " type nozzles give a similarly conical spray 



