356 
THE GARDENERS’ MAGAZINE. 
17. 1913. 
TRIAL OF SPRAYING MACHINES 
AT WISLEY. 
company of competitors. Howev., 
there was evident a most friendly feelii,, 
among the exhibitors as well as t£ r^l ! 
the company, who had a delightfifllv^ ” 
warmly for their visit to the WisleV ti«' 
dens. Roughly, the exhibits might be cl^ifij 
under three headings ; 1 . Syringes andlS 
hand sprayers for greenhouse use- 2 
sack sprayers; and 3. large machines’on^r 
riages or wheels. The necessary quaUst 
That the importance and necessity of they investigated every detail of the macliines tions of an efficient spraying machine m* 
spraying fruit trees, roses, and potatoes has brought before them, but it occurred to us be briefly stated to be sound, but simnl^ 
become more generally and fully realised that the demonstrators would havfe been construction, accessibility of working narti 
than was hitherto the case requires no rather more at their ease if they had appeared for purposes of oleansing or repair 
stronger proof than is afforded by the rapid before the iudges separately, unaccom- working, immunity from damage by szct 
acids as are contained in caustic waskM 
nozzles that will produce fine, even sprar 
whilst allowing such mixtures as lime-waA 
or soap and oil to pass through without 
clogging durability, and portability. The 
trials afforded conclusive proof that even 
the finest nozzle capable of allowing any. 
thing in the way of a mixture to be 
will not give a spray that will really cover 
the whole surface of a plant. True, sevcr;il 
of the machines produced a beautifully 
and mist-like spray, but when lime-wash 
discharged on to sheets of brown paper, it 
was plainly seen that the paper was thickly 
spotW with the fluid, but not really covered. 
This is a matter of importance, as showing 
the absolute necessity for spraying more 
than once. It is useless, indeed detrimental, 
to tarry sufficiently long upon a tree to en¬ 
sure the surface being absolutely covert, 
for that will lead to running of the liqnid 
and probable scorching of the parts where 
the heaviest coating is received. 
Another point that impressed itself upon 
one was that for all but the biggest wore a 
knapsack sprayer is really the handiest and 
most useful machine, because any sprayer 
on wheels not only occupies enough room’ to 
make it awkward to get about between row* 
of trees, but is, when filled, so heavy that it 
requires at least a couple of men to drag 
it over rough ground, and even with two 
men the task is a laborious one. 
Of course, very large machines for use in 
large orchards, potato fields, or hop planta¬ 
tions aro built on carriages to be drawn by 
a pony or donkey.^ and there are even a few 
motor-driven machines on the market, but 
increase in the. number and variety of pat- panied by the .rest of the exhibitors. Natur- 
Improvement in construction, gp*eater 
adaptability to various purposes, and higher 
♦efficiency havo been obtained in the case 
of the older makes of machines, and there 
are also so many new patterns that it is cer¬ 
tainly not a simple matter to decide defi¬ 
nitely that this machine or that is the best 
of all. Indeed it is very mnch open to ques¬ 
tion whether any one machine merits such 
a distinction, for spraying is an operation 
that has to be performed under so widely 
differing circumstances and conditions that 
one machine may be ideal for one purpose, 
whilst another is equally satisfactory under 
other circumstances. It is therefore fully in 
accordance with our views that at the trial 
of spraying machines and appliances con¬ 
ducted by the Royal Horticultural Society at 
Wisley on Wednesday, April 24, each indivi¬ 
dual machine was considered entirely on its 
own merits rather than in competition, and 
the awards made simply testified to the 
excellence of the appliance without sug- 
ge.sting that it was in every way superior to 
all other machines. There is real practical 
value in such a demonstration as that which 
was held by the R.H.S., and it seems a pity 
there was not a larger attendance of growers 
to witness the trials. The Rev. W. Wilks, 
Mr. S. T. Wright, and Mr. Gaskell attended 
to control the arrangements, and the seven 
gentlemen who acted as judges were MessTs. 
F. J. Chittenden, S. T. WrighI, Hy. Hooper, 
Cecil H. Hooper, E. S. Salmon, H. M. Lefroy, 
and C. R. Fielder, whilst Dr. Williams and 
Mr. E. Mawley represented the National 
Rose Society, 
Judg:ing:. 
A word of praise is due to the judges for 
the patient and painstaking manner in which 
cylinder 
artjen and Co., 
CONTINUOUS SPRAY MACHINE DISTRIBUTING ARSENAT . 
OF LEAD WASH. 
