306 CONTROLLING INSECTS AND DISEASES 



account definite facts about his fruit enterprise which he him- 

 self knows, and equally definite information from authorita- 

 tive sources, concerning machinery and equipment. 



Procedure : 



(a) Consider the size of the fruit enterprise. 



(b) Consider the length of time within which applications 



must be made and the number required. 



(c) Consider nature of ground over which work must be done. 



(d) Consider accessibility of the water supply. 



(e) Consider availability of labor. 



(/) Consider comparative merits of spraying and dusting. 



(g) Consider important mechanical features of sprayers and 



equipment. 



(h) Consider important mechanical features of dusters and 



equipment. 



(i) Consider advisability of stationary spray plant. 

 (;) Select machinery and equipment. 



(a) Consider the Size of the Fruit Enterprise. This refers 

 both to the acreage or the number of trees, and to the size 

 of the trees. A machine of a given capacity can do only a 

 certain amount of work even when operating at maximum 

 efficiency and under the best of conditions. Number of trees 

 is a more dependable factor than number of acres, since it is 

 the trees that must be sprayed rather than the ground. How- 

 ever, acreage and distance between trees may be important 

 from the standpoint of the hauling necessary in order to put 

 the machine into action. 



A power sprayer capable of carrying one gun at full capac- 

 ity should cover 150 to 225 well-grown trees about 20 years 

 old in 10 hours. If all conditions are favorable, including 

 availability of water, the upper figure is possible, but it will 

 not be attained on the average. A two-gun outfit, if it is 

 really such in capacity and power and not merely an outfit 

 to which two guns have been attached, will cover almost double 

 the number of trees except that time consumed in filling and 



