162 PROCEEDINGS OF TWENTY-SIXTH FRUIT -GROWERS' CONVENTION. 



saturating all the leaves and twigs without much waste. This nozzle 

 was generally used when soapy solutions or kerosene emulsions were 

 required. When the " lime, sulphur, and salt" remedy was found to be 

 effective and was used for the " pernicious," or so-called " San Jose," 

 scale, the San Jose nozzle was soon cut by the gritty nature of that 

 solution. Here again our people were equal to the difficulty, and the 

 Bean spray pump manufacturers, of Los Gatos, invented their '^Duck 

 Bill" nozzle. The name suggests the shape. The solution at the outlet 

 strikes against a plate of hard rubber, "^hich is more durable than brass. 

 The fineness of the spray is regulated by a thumb screw. The short 

 nozzles made it difiicult to reach the tops of the trees, so the late Mr. 

 Titus, of San Gabriel, Los Angeles County, thought of a simple way of 

 overcoming this, by attaching half-inch gas pipe to the end of his 

 rubber hose, and on this was screwed the nozzle. The pipe was of 

 varying length, according to the height of the trees to be sprayed. After- 

 wards a bamboo rod, with a thin brass pipe passing through it, was 

 invented, but it was not strong enough to stand lifting or displacing 

 the dense branches of orange twigs and leaves necessary for the spray 

 to reach every part, so this was discarded. From the old-time syringe 

 and fountain pump used, with a bucket for carrying the solution, Cali- 

 fornians advanced, and spray tanks holding from two hundred to five 

 hundred gallons, and drawn by two to four horses or mules, was the 

 next improvement to expedite the work of disinfecting orchards. The 

 Bean pump, and other pumps with large air cylinders, was a long step 

 in the right direction, as the compressed air and liquid in them keeps 

 up a steady and continuou»s spray. 



J. W. Wolfskin and L. C. Goodwin, of Los Angeles, were the first 

 orchardists to use steam as the motive power in orchard-spraying 

 machinery. This was in 1881-2. Their steam boilers and pumps were 

 used from one to two years and then given up, because of difficulty in 

 regulating the force. This defect was remedied by Mr. W. R. Gunnis 

 and his son, R. H. Gunnis, of San Diego, who constructed a very satis- 

 factory gas engine provided with a fly or balance wheel. Now a number 

 of powerful gas and steam spraying machines are in use in this State, 

 requiring very little attention in their management, and giving great 

 satisfaction. 



The use of sulphur as a check and remedy for red spider" and all 

 leaf-eating mites, mildew and other external fungi upon trees and 

 plants, is well known to horticulturists, and was generally applied to 

 the affected trees by the use of sulphur bellows or dusted from a sack 

 at the end of a pole. It remained for Mr. George Ditzler, of the Rio 

 Bonito orchards. Biggs, Butte County, to invent a machine that dis- 

 tribiited the sulphur in a wholesale manner. Mr. Ditzler's machine is 

 an ordinary grain-sower, with several attachments of his own invention. 



