3 32 
March 27, 
COMPRESSED AIR SPRAYING AGAIN. 
The article on “Spraying With Com¬ 
pressed Air,” page 189, has been the 
cause of so much inquiry that it seems 
necessary to supplement it with furthei 
details. In the beginning I wish' to say 
that no part or process is protected by 
patent. It is too simple. The simplicity 
extends further than construction; it is 
the dominant feature of the whole 
operation of a spraying job with com¬ 
pressed air, once the outfit is installed. 
In the brief space of a newspaper 
article only an outline of the plan can 
be given. I think, however, that anyone 
of ordinarily good ability can from the 
following description successfully install 
a plant, and once in operation it is bound 
to be satisfactory. It is so cheaply 
operated. It is always ready to go. 
Spraying time is hurrying time; delays 
are vexatious and expensive. There is 
little at our central station and nothing 
taken into the orchard that is liable to 
get out of order or fail. Its capacity is 
limited only by the number of carts and 
help used. 
At the central station are located mix¬ 
ing barrels, tanks, etc., same as are 
necessary for any spraying outfit. In 
addition we have a small air-compressor 
with some sort of power for driver. 
Any kind will do.| I however prefer a 
three or four horse-power steam engine 
and a good large boiler. Steam is a 
little more dependable than gasoline and 
the large boiler is useful in preparing 
lime-sulphur. A compressor capable of 
furnishing enough air to spray out 150 
to 400 gallons per hour can be had in 
most cities at $60 to $225. The com¬ 
pressor should be capable of working up 
to and above 200 pounds. However I 
never use it above 150 to 175 pounds. 
For spraying 2000 gallons or more daily 
there should be three or more carts. By 
reference to illustrations, page 189, the 
construction of these carts will be seen 
to be very simple, consisting of a frame¬ 
work made up of two thills and three 
cross pieces, bolted together on a short 
iron axle carried by two wide-tired low- 
down wheels. Make the thills of good 
strong wood 2x5 inches, 13 feet long; 
taper the ends to fit a heavy harness. 
Cross pieces should be 3x4 inches. Two 
carry the tanks and one is to attach the 
drawing whiffletree. 
The tanks are ordinary 50-gallon gal¬ 
vanized range boilers tested to 250 
pounds. The manner of attachment to 
cross pieces is shown in the illustration. 
A J4-inch round iron clamp is used on 
each end. Each tank carries a pressure 
gauge. The piping at back end is now 
somewhat different from that shown in 
the illustration. The standpipe there 
shown was the filling pipe. We now fill 
through a hole on top near the band. 
This hole has a short piece of pipe with 
a cap (as shown on the standpipe). The 
cap is removed while filling. The air- 
tank is there shown on the left. The 
piping is very much as the illustration 
shows, only we do not now admit the 
air in centre of the mixture tank, this 
opening being taken up by the agitator. 
It is immaterial where you admit the 
air; in the connection below the pres¬ 
sure gauge of the mixture tank is as 
good a place as any. 
The agitator consists of a §4-inch 
square rod upset a little at the front 
end and terminating at the back end in 
a short piece of }4-inch round iron 
which comes out through a stuffing box, 
and is fitted with a short iron crank 
handle. The front end hole is closed 
with a lx34-inch bushing, and the bush¬ 
ing by a three-quarter plug. This 
makes a cup bearing for the end of the 
rod. The rod is then strung full of al¬ 
ternating one-inch band iron paddles 
and short pieces of three-quarter pipe. 
This makes a wonderfully effective agi¬ 
tator. Any blacksmith can put it up, 
everything but the stuffing box. This 
can be procured from the Eureka Tem¬ 
pered Copper Works, North East, Pa. 
THE RURAL 
The boilers and all fittings can be had 
at any plumbing shop, but the mixture 
tanks should be ordered with special 
tapping as follows: A one-inch hole in 
the centre of each end. A two-inch on 
top and a three-quarter-inch hole in bot¬ 
tom, each about five or six inches from 
the back end, and a half-inch or any 
sized hole on top toward the forward 
end for the pressure gauge and air inlet. 
The large top hole is for filling; the 
bottom or opposite hole is for the 
discharge. The spray hose is attached 
to pipe here. It is, of course, neces¬ 
sary to provide a valve for closing 
during filling, and until ready to spray 
out. 
At the central station the horse is 
unhitched while the tanks are being 
charged. A pail with large cone 
strainer is placed on the mixture tank, 
and connection made between the pipe 
line from compressor and the air tank. 
The end of this pipe line is made up 
of two or three pieces of three-quarter 
pipe 20 to 30 inches long, connected by 
street L’s. It will be noted that the air 
tank is similarly fitted with street L’s. 
Connection between the two is made by 
union or quick shift hose connections as 
desired, the street L’s giving so much 
room for adjustment that it is only 
necessary to place the carts in approxi¬ 
mately the same place each time of fill¬ 
ing. The compressor easily charges the 
air tank while the mixture tank is fill¬ 
ing. The connecting and disconnecting 
takes half a minute or so, and the charg¬ 
ing 8 to 12 minutes with a small com¬ 
pressor and three to five minutes with 
a larger one. If the air tank is charged 
to 160 pounds the nozzle man can start 
with 80 pounds and have 80 pounds left 
in the air tank when the mixture tank 
is emptied. The pressure left in the 
air tank is saved for the next charge. 
Regulation of pressure is an easy mat¬ 
ter. The nozzle man will soon learn to 
set gauge on pressure tank at pres¬ 
sure wanted and there will be little or 
no variation till the mixture is gone. 
Only two valves arc needed in the air 
line; they are shown in the illustrations. 
Any sort of a separating device can be 
used on the discharge pipe ahead of the 
hose. We use a large union with coarse 
strainer that stops any large particles 
that may have got into or formed in the 
mixture tanks. A blow-off valve is 
placed below the union to clean it if too 
much coarse stuff accumulates. 
Ashes on Onions; Strawberry Rows. 
B. H. PPennsylvania. —Are ashes a 
good fertilizer for an onion patch? If so, 
how much to the acre for light ground? 
What sort of row is best for raising 
strawberries, the wide matted row or let 
each mother plant make about five plants 
trained in a well formed row? The ground 
is in a fair state of cultivation. 
Ans. —Ashes contain lime, potash and 
phosphoric acid. They are good for 
onions as far as they go, but as they 
do not contain any nitrogen, that sub¬ 
stance must be supplied in some other 
form—manure, nitrate, dried blood, 
tankage, etc. We would use from a 
ton to 3,000 pounds per acre. The sort 
of row in strawberry culture depends 
somewhat on the variety. Some varie¬ 
ties make runners freely, and seem to 
do better in matted rows. Others do 
not make many runners, and with them 
we would rather lay down four or five 
strong ones from the parent plant and 
cut the others off. 
An Institute on Keel. 
We have heard of institutes on wheels, 
but Prof. S. B. Heiges tells us of a meet¬ 
ing held on a boat in Virginia. 
‘‘Messrs. Haines and Carden, proprietors 
of the Virginia Navigation Company, offered 
Hon. G. W. Koiner, Commissioner of Agri¬ 
culture, the free use of the steamer Louise 
in which to hold an institute on the Mata- 
poni Itiver. The speakers were the guests of 
the proprietors of the line, and at least 200 
farmers attended the day and night ses 
sions. Their wives and daughters came 
from both sides of the river, bringing roast 
turkeys, chickens, ham and beef, all kinds 
of pies, cakes, preserves, vegetables, etc., 
and set out a sumptuous feast for all on 
improvised tables in the hold of the 
steamer.” 
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