Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-07-23

green. The lime absorbs the free ar
senic and prevents the scalding of the
foliage. Sometimes this solution is
still further weakened by using only
one-half the amount OF Paris green
stated above. In the dry process, air
Stacked lime takes the place Of water
and the trees are sprayed with the
dust In either of these cases the Par
is green may be replaced by the stand
ard Bordeaux mixture, well known to
all fruit growers. ~
A Comparison.
| To compare the wet and dry meth
DDS effectively, three points must be
considered, namely, economy, service
ability and effectiveness. In the mat
ter of economy, both of labor and ex-
pense, the dry spray has decided adj
vantage. All water that is used must
be handled at least once. 1t must be
put from the spring or pond or creek
into barrels and then mixed with the
insecticide in another vessel. Out Of
this vessel it may be put into smaller
barrels or into the tank of the spray
Ing machine. Water is heavy. The Ia
Dor of men and teams costs money.
The spray rots harness wherever it
falls on it. If the ground is wet and
soft heavily loaded wagon sinks to
the hubs in the soft earth of the Or
chard. Orchards require the most at
tention in the spring, when farm work
is plentiful. Teams, if the orchardist
does not own them himself. must be
hired at rates often eXhorbitant. The
dry spray, requiring no water, can be
handled from one-horse wagon. The
lightness of the lime as compared to
! the water permits that A light wa
gon can be used in an orchard, no mat
ter how wet the soil may be. 1t will
not sink in and cut the roots of the
trees as heavy wagon will. Lime is
cheap, the cost of handling water high
Advantages of Dry Spray.
serviceability again seems to give
| the advantage of the dry spray Wa
ter and Paris green mix imperfectly
The arsenic has tendency to settle
to the bottom. Constant stirring by
an experienced man is necessary to
keep the mixture uniform. Otherwise
the orchardist is first spraying with
water having only little Paris green
and later on, when he reaches the bot
tom of the barrel, he is throwing pure
wet Paris green, liquid fire, on all his
trees. In the latter case all the foliage
| is eaten off by the poison. The dry
spray mixture of lime and Paris green
is perfectly uniform. When it is
sprayed out of the machine the farmer
| is sure that the mixture is neither too
weak nor too strong. And dry Paris
green will not burn the foliage.
Rain Destroys Wet Mixture.
| If the wet mixture is applied just
at the right strength, the results it
gives are good. But the first rain is
only too liable to wash it off the trees,
Spraying must be frequently repeated.
The dry mixture sticks. Last year it
stayed for three months on the foliage
of Kansas orchard, although during
that-time five and half inches OF
rain had fallen. 1t kills the worms and
insects as we'll as the wet spray. Three
sprayings a year with the dry method
are enough to keep the average Or
chard in good condition.
Experiments.
G. c. johnson, who has farm about
one mile west of Argentine. has made
exhaustive experiments with the var.
ious methods of spraying. Mr.. John
son had been handicapped by the fact
that his orchard was an old one. thus
increasing the labor of caring for it
very materially Four years ago he
moved on the place The trees had
been neglected. Worms and insects
had taken possession Of the orchard.
Mr.. Johnson began using the liquid
spray with fair success One day he
heard of the dust spray and thought
the idea a good one. He sent for a
small hand spraying machine and used
it the next year. The results aston
ished him. The machine, however,
could not be operated without what
Mr.. johnson thought an unnecessary
amount of labor. So between the har-
vest of last year and the spring of this
year he devised machine which has
more than come I'D to his expectations.
Construction of Machine.
The construction of the machine is
] simple. The drive wheel, to which a
handle for turning is fastened is
geared to fan in such manner that
one revolution of the wheel turns the
fan one hundred times, producing a
very strong current Of air. This is
forcer though pipe to the font of
the machine, where the hopper is that
holds the spraying mixture. The
draught picks up the dust and carries
it through the long galvanized iron
pipe the operator holds in one hand.
One man operates the machine, turn
ing the wheel with one hand and di-
recting the spray with the other The
whole can be easily carried on a small
one-horse wagon. By adding lengths
of the pipe the spray can be thrown to
the top of the highest fruit tree, Po-
tatoes can be treated in the same way
No cinch bug can survive the treat
ment. 1t has also been found effica>
cious on shade trees, vines, bushes and
even lawns.
Believes in Dust Spray.
This years experience with his Or
| chard has mado M, Johnson a firmar