576 



NE W FIELDS. 



stant use, chief among which are the salts of cop- 

 per and various combinations of the same with hme, 

 ammonia, carbonate of soda, etc. The copper 

 preparations are now used in preference to all 

 others, partly because they are cheap, but more 

 especially on account of their effectiveness and the 



ease with which they are prepared and applied. 

 The cost of using them depends of course on many 

 variable conditions, so that it is difficult to make 

 any definite statement on this point. As a rule, 

 however, it may be said that for the three prepara- 

 tions of copper now most extensively used — the 

 Bordeaux mixture, the ammoniacal solution and the 

 modified eau celeste — the cost of treating bearing 

 grapes will range from one to two cents per vine 

 for the season. The Bordeaux mixture is a more 

 costly preparation than either of the others, but so 

 far it has proved most effective, and in reality, there- 

 fore, is the cheapest. Large apple or other fruit 

 trees can be treated the entire season for from 15 

 to 20 cents each, while with nursery stock the cost 

 will vary from 20 to 50 cents per thousand. I am 

 sure that, so far as discoveries and important im- 

 provements are concerned, there have been fully as 

 many here as in other branches of the science. 



Many improvements have been made within the 

 past two years in apparatuses for applying fungi- 

 cides. Grape growers were at first forced to resort 

 to the wasteful method of applying the remedies 



with old brooms and wisps of straw. All this was 

 changed, however, by the advent of the improved 

 knapsack sprayers which were mtroduced by the 

 Department of Agriculture in 1887 and first used in 

 the treatment of black-rot and downy mildew of the 

 grape. For a time all knapsack machines were im- 

 ported from France, there being nothing of the kind 

 manufactured here. In 1888, a knapsack pump 

 similar to those used by the French was invented 

 by Mr. Adam Weaber, of Vineland, New Jersey. 

 A great many of these machines have been sold, 

 but owing to the price it is practically beyond the 

 reach of a large majority of gardeners and fruit 

 growers. To overcome this difficulty, we have 

 recently designed a sprayer of which the actual 

 cost need not exceed $12. This pump has been 

 used quite extensively the present season, both in 

 the nursery and vineyard, and so far it has given 

 entire satisfaction. Any one has the privilege of 

 making it, but those who do not wish to go to this 

 trouble can obtain it from any of the various firms 

 who are offering it for sale.* Great improvements 

 have recently been made in spraying nozzles, the 

 thick, pasty nature of some of the fungicides 

 having made it necessary to modify considerably 

 the well-known nozzles used in applying insecti- 

 cide substances. Probably the nozzle now most 



Fig. 5. A New Knapsack Pump and Tank, 



extensively used is that shown attached to the 

 lance in Fig. 5. This has been evolved from the 



*Albinson & Trusheim, 2026 14th street, Washington, D. C. ; 

 Columbia Brass Works, Washington. D. C. ; Field Force Pump 

 Co., Lockport, New York. 



