THIRTY-THIRD BIENNIA!, SESSION 
105 
Supply wagons cannot be used because the tanks must be recharged with air 
at the plant where the compressor is located. Lack of sufficient agitation 
is also a serious drawback, especially when a heavy material like self boiled 
lime-sulphur is in use. Another weak point in the system is the fact 
that as the tank is emptied the pressure runs down so that the last of the 
tank of material is not thrown out with as much force as the first. 
The new outfit known as the “Air-Tight” already referred to, combines 
principles of both the gas engine and compressed air type of sprayers 
and may do away in part, at least, with some of the objectionable features 
of each. The essential features of the “Air-Tight” sprayer are a heavy 
steel tank for spray material and compressed air, a small gasoline engine, 
weighing about 130 pounds, and a small air compressor, the whole being 
mounted on an ordinary farm wagon or truck. The engine operates the compres- 
sor which in turn forces the compressed air through a pipe to the bottom of 
the spray tank where it is released through a perforated tube designed to 
agitate the spray material. Two leads of hose bound together with wire 
extend from the tank, one conveying spray material and the other com- 
pressed air. The air is liberated and comes into contact with the spray material 
at the nozzle, thereby breaking the spray into a fine mist at a much lower 
pressure than is required for practical work with the ordinary outfit. This 
outfit is somewhat lighter than most sprayers in common use. As it 
carries its own engine and compressor, together with a rotary pump for 
filling the tank with water, a new supply can be taken wherever water is 
available. Since high pressure is not required the strain on engine and 
spray hose is not great. S'ome of the growers who have tried this) outfit 
claim that the method of applying the air at the point of exit causes the 
spray to divide more finely and go farther than when applied with other 
outfits. Personally, we are using gasoline engine outfits and will not be dis- 
posed to change until we feel sure that we have found something better for 
our conditions. 
Tillage, Tillage Tools and Tractors. 
With most growers the problem of working the land in early spring 
while it is in good workable condition and then keeping it stirred frequently 
during the growing season is a serious one. This is especially true since 
spraying and other routine orchard work must be kept up at the same 
time. Often the orchardist fails to get his land worked over in good 
time in early spring, the soil gets hard and dry, rendering cultivation 
very difficult; and when finally stirred late in the season the benefits to be 
derived from cultivation are largely lost. In the rush of spring work horses 
and mules frequently become fagged out and their backs and shoulders 
become galled and sore, thereby impeding the progress of the work. Upon 
our shale lands, common throughout the eastern pan-handle of West Virginia, 
disc harrows can be substituted for plows in bearing orchards and the 
labor of stirring up the soil greatly facilitated. However, while the work 
progresses much more rapidly than if plows are used, disc harrows are 
very hard on teams and it is almost impossible to keep the working stock 
in good condition throughout the first working of the land in the spring. 
Theoretically, the gas or oil tractor should come in at this point and 
