How the "Ridge" Sprayed its Trees-By Dewitt c. wdd jr., 



Connect- 



COOPERATIVE PROTECTIVE EFFORTS OF A COUNTRYSIDE IN SPRAYING FOR SCALE AND OTHER SHADE 

 TREE AND ORCHARD PESTS— REDUCING THE COST TO INDIVIDUALS AND YET COVERING A WIDER AREA 



A FEW years ago the tent 

 caterpillar hit the Ridge pretty 

 hard and after the damaging 

 work of the San Jose scale, it 

 seemed as though the poor fruit trees were 

 about ready to receive their conge. 



That set everyone thinking. Not only 

 thinking, but reading, studying, and finally 

 acting. That winter, all the people of 

 the community were sounded by a circular 

 letter, as to their attitude regarding a 

 combined effort of protection and the 

 possibility of forming an association or 

 corporation to defray the expenses of such 

 a move. 



The response was so unanimously gener- 

 ous and enthusiastic, that it resulted in a 

 mass meeting for the consideration of the 

 subject, with an idea of crystalizing the 

 views into a practical scheme. 



Now just here let me state that this 

 hamlet is located in a beautiful rolling 

 country in Connecticut, with wooded 

 ridges and broad fertile valleys, miles from 

 a railroad or a large urban centre and more 

 or less sparsely settled by a good old New 

 England farming folk and into this peaceful 

 community have drifted a dozen or so New 

 York business and professional men, who, 

 in their desire to get away from the 

 bustle and whirl of city life, have sought 

 the simplicity of the true natural setting 

 here afforded. 



This does not mean that these men have 

 built up one of the suburban country sum- 

 mer communities and transplanted the 

 ultra-fashionable conventionalities to a 

 new centre; on the contrary, it means that 

 they have converted farm houses to their 

 moderate needs, built simple houses; some- 

 times of logs, sometimes of shingles, con- 

 served the woodland, protected the streams 

 and game, improved the land, the five 



stock and the fruit trees; in a word, lived 

 quite rational outdoor lives, coming and 

 going, winter and summer, endearing 

 themselves to their native neighbors and 

 interesting themselves in the vital questions 

 of their new environment. 



Thus it was, that the call for the meeting 

 brought out a big percentage of all types of 

 residents and a serious and exhaustive dis- 

 cussion of the question resulted in the 

 formation of a temporary committee to 

 take the necessary steps to form an organi- 

 zation with power to receive subscriptions 

 at ten dollars per share, to the amount of 

 six hundred dollars, to contract for two 

 power spraying outfits and materials and 

 conduct the spraying with lime-sulphur 

 solution, of the trees of all members of the 

 association, at a charge to be proportion- 

 ately assessed at a later date. 



This seems rather a broad and compre- 

 hensive power to give to a committee of 

 three, but the time was all too short if we 

 expected to get the machines in time to do 

 the first spraying at the proper season 

 and we, moreover, knew our men. 



This all happened in February and by 

 April 15 th, we had received in cash sub- 

 scriptions $440 and in pledged subscriptions, 



$80 more, had purchased two complete 

 outfits, each fitted for four nozzles, to- 

 gether with enough material for the season 

 and all for a little less than $500; and 

 furthermore, had put. these to work over 

 a large territory and sprayed more than 

 nine hundred trees, as well as berry bushes, 

 small fruits, etc. 



It suited our purpose and plans to pur- 

 chase the power spraying machinery separ- 

 ately and assemble it ourselves instead of 

 buying the catalogued complete outfits, 

 and we are certainly proud of the broad 

 ironwheeled wagon carrying a fine type of 

 gasolene engine, throwing four sprays, the 

 spraying mixture contained in a large tank, 

 with power agitator, and surmounting all, 

 the stout home-made folding tower. 



We operated that year with a driver, two 

 extra men and a superintendent for each 

 outfit and the State Experimental Station 

 was so much interested in this the first 

 community effort, that it sent a representa- 

 tive, without charge, to instruct, supervise 

 and assist in any way possible. 



At first, we had delays and made mis- 

 takes, on account of misjudging wind and 

 also from our unfamiliarity with the work, 

 but soon it became a systematic and regular 

 routine and we achieved excellent results, 

 both in quality of work and the economical 

 handling of it. In one case under the most 

 perfect conditions, with little wind, com- 

 paratively level ground and trees nicely 

 spaced and in fair condition, the record of 

 the season was made and an orchard of 

 forty-eight trees was sprayed in forty-five 

 minutes and this high mark is likely to 

 stand for some time. 



April 1 6th we held a meeting to hear the 

 reports, formed a permanent mutual asso- 



This power spraying machine mounted on a wagon was owned by the community, and the trees of the neighborhood were sprayed efficiently at low cost. Disease and insect trouble 



of the entire countryside were brought under complete control 



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