NOTES. ' [117] 



age for transportation by rail or to the field. Such a system has given great satisfaction 

 by its convenience, as \\-^ell as by allowing no obstacles to enter the nozzles. In spit© 

 of the most perfect precaiitions clogging will occur at the outset or before high press- 

 ure is attained, chiefly from the scales of iron separating from the interior of the- 

 pipe as loosened by rusting and jarring. With tbe finest nozzles (one sixty-fonrtb 

 inch discharge) these seem to cause no more difficulty than with a standard beveled 

 one-sixteenth inch discharge. The nozzle faces may.be removed to let out any ob- 

 stacles which with low pressure are apt to clog the outlet and stop the internal rota- 

 tion. But a high pressure should always be used, and when this is once up the 

 outlet may be pricked with a pin, and it will discharge with an ahnost explosive force, 

 instantly starting an inconceivably rapid internal rotation, which, while sustained 

 with due pressure, will by its centrifugal action prevent any particle from again 

 finding the center of rotation from which the discharge takes x>lace. This is espe- 

 cially true of the smallest nozzles, having an outlet just large enough to admit the* 

 insertion of a iiin. As previously set forth, the inner edge of the outlet should gen- 

 erally be square or sharj). In the eddy chamber a great hydraulic pressure is gen- 

 erated, so great that by thumb pressure the discharge cannot be stopped. The power 

 therein accumulated under high pressure is sufficient to cut through and disintegrate*- 

 any obstructing particles or fragments, except those of the hardest kind, which are- 

 so heavy as to fly ofl' from the center by their weight and momentum when the ve- 

 locity of" rotation is once up or quickly starts. 



The top adjustments of the descending pipes are very important. These top& 

 may be variously hung, combined, or constructed. A knowledge of the irregulari- 

 ties of ordinary cotton fields, such as appear chiefly in crooks of the rows and in va- 

 riations of width between them, prevents the idea of a stiff", unadjustable attachment 

 of the tops of the pipes, which must travel between and more or less against the- 

 rows. Conformity to all inequalities of the ground, its numerous uj)s and downs, it& 

 dead furrows, ditches, stones, and stumps, should likewise be attained. It must also 

 be evident that a large, stiff' apparatus is difficult to haul about, as it cannot betaken 

 entire through gates except with much labor. Of course it is possible to disjoint 

 the parts beforehand, and then screw them together tight afterwards when the^ 

 field is reached. This, however, is hardly practicable. In fact the separating and 

 joining of stiff' metal joints by field hands is a failure. Plumber's tools are necessary 

 for this i)urpose. The field laborer of the South screws up the joint too tight, too 

 loose, or in such form as to spoil the screw-threads. Again, the joints become rusted 

 together and a vise must be engaged. The stiff system also requires that very heavy- 

 pipe be used, as the leverage on long pipe arms enables them to suffer great strain^ 

 to become broken off easily at the end where the thread for the joint is cut, whereas 

 with flexile joints no leverage power, but only tensile sir Sim can be brought to bear. 

 In the latter case very light tubing can be employed with economy in material, cost^ 

 labor, and salvage of cotton. Moreover, only by such light flexile apparatus can any 

 considerable number of rows be treated at once from beneath. These facts havo 

 been substantiated by tests of stiff" and of flexile apparatus this season niore fully 

 than they were by the Atlanta tests, in which one light machine undersprayed 

 eighteen rows of cotton, a strip 20 yards wide, at a single drive. The tests this year 

 have been not only of stiff connections, but also of the constructions whereby adjust- 

 ability of the descending pipes is effected automatically and by hand. These havo 

 already been noticed above or in the previous reports in so far as they pertain to the 

 stem or body of the pipe or its distal appendages ; hence, next in order may be con- 

 sidered more specifically and in natural sequence the construction and arrangements 

 of the tops of these pipes as planned and tested by me ; 



I. The stiff" hanging tubes have been tried, as already set forth, in firm union with 

 a stiff back-pipe or cross-pipe such as appears in many of the patented sprayers, as 

 Johnson's, Daughtrey's, &c., while sufficient objections to this arrangement for un- 

 dersprayiug have already been presented. It is the first construction which natu- 

 rally suggests itself to any plumber or other mechanic, but presents no special adap- 

 tation for the purpose, as has been shown this season and previously. 



II. The extremest opposite construction to the foregoing is attained by having 

 radiating flexile tubes from the main to the descending pipes, instead of a straight- 

 and stiff" cross-pipe. By this arrangement the hanging pipes are swung apart or 

 nearer together independently, and set on a cross-bar or on diverging bars, at spaces. 

 to suit rows having different courses or widths. 



By way of variation the tubes may radiate only for a part of the distance, and for 

 a space run close beside each other along a supporting bar before reaching the de- 

 scending parts. The parts upon the support are preferably of metal, and slide readily 

 in peculiarly locked hooks, as simple, easily separable attachments,- specially devised 

 for this purpose. Where the descending parts have flexibility to some extent they 

 may drag in the cotton in turning, as stated above. It is shown that they thus do no 

 noteworthy harm to the plants ; also that they themselves do not suffer injury. This 

 flexile construction is simple, and- generally preferable in combination with the 



