The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1922-03-30
GROWERS URGED TO
PRESSURE SPRAYING
(By Leroy Childs)

With the approach OF spring and tn
coming spraying season it is pleasin
to observe the fine line of equipmer
most of the sprayer manufacturers ar
able to place before the fruit grower
of the northwest. This service is on
that should be appreciated by ever
grower. Collectively, this improve
ment in machinery represents ire
mendous expenditure on the part o
the manufacturers. involving in man.
instances complete new plans of re
contraction involving much labor an,
money.
To meet the demand of the orchard
ist in his pest control. the need of thii
equipment has become more apparen
each year, especially since the adven
of the spray gun. and every grower
should as far as possible equip himself
with sprayer that will enable him Il
obtain maximum pest control. There
are countless examples scattered ovel
the northwest where success or fail
ures in fruit growing, especially apple
production, can be traced to the spray.
er, or perhaps better, to the lack of 8
sprayer. Many growers will ponder
over an investment in a sprayer for
fear that it is more than they can un-
dertake. In reality it is the best in
vestment an orchardist can make, be-
cause it is in fact. insurance. If
were banker and loaning money to
an orchardist, my first question would
be, What kind Of a sprayer do you
have and how much power has it?"
If he is wise, this should be his first
question.
| A number of examples have come
to my attention this year where grow
ers could have paid for two or more
sprayers. costing 81 900 each, with the
fruit they lost during the past season.
There are any number of growers in
the northwest who lost from 25. to 80
per cent of their fruit during the past
year from one or many causes as a
direct result of inadequate equipment.
The saving of rs per cent of a crop of
1000 boxes of apples would pay for
the best sprayer there is on the mar
ket. Where can one make a better in
vestment?
Based upon the experiment work
carried on in Hood River Branch of
the Oregon Experiment Station. at
least three important facts have come
to our attention which make good con-
troll of our various apple pests pos
sible. These are:
!. Proper spraying equipment.
z. Thoroughness of application.
3. Proper timing of the sprays.
Proper spraying equipment is placed
first, due to the fact that other prac.
tices are largely dependent upon this
for proper execution. The term, Prop
er Spraying Equipment, has to be
divided under two heads: machines
employing spray guns and those en-
ploying rods. The appearance of the
spray gun has made it necessary to |
develop spray machinery of greater |
horse power and pump capacity in or
der to develop the right type of spray |
thrown from the instrument, than is
needed where the old spray poles and
fine nozzles were used.
Our Investigations lead US to believe
that two-gun outfit should have a
pump capacity of at least IL gallons
per minute, at 800 pounds pressure.
We have also found that gun dis
charging five gallons per minute, lin
GLIDING the time shut off in passing
from tree to tree) is the most econom-
cal unit to employ. For such an out
put fairly coarse opening in the disc
is necessary. The pressure is 600
pounds or better) sufficient to make a
very finely divided spray. Statesmen
often make the statement that they
have a machine of three horse power [
with pump capacity of seven to nine
gallons per minute and which is able
to operate two guns at 300 pounds
pressure or more. 1t is true that this
can be done as long as the engine will {
carry the load. In so doing they have
cut down the disc opening to such a {
degree that only two to three gallons {
of spray are passing through per min ,
ute. The decrease of this opening is [
such as to greatly limit the working
radius of the gun man, especially cut I
ing down the height to which effective
work can be done. The failure to rec ,
Ognize this important point on the part !
Of the orchardist is probably the cause I
for many failures. especially in scab c
and codling moth control. Where wind i
Is to be contepded with spray coming I
through fine disc, though it is in the I
proper form, cannot be thrown into the I
.ops of the trees, resulting in top i
fruits becoming wormy or scabby and q
which later runs wild, regardless of @
low much spray is employed. Where t
.hese small machines are being used,
employing fine discs in the guns, a I
over should be used to enable the e
covering of the upper portions of the U
.rees. e
We have found that a coarse spray b
uch as developed with low pressure, p
$50 pounds or less) does not break the n
pray up into the proper form to per- 4
nit thorough covering of fruit and fol- L
age. Too much of the coarse spray
,asses through the tree, passing by |,
10Th fruit and foliage, covering where s.
he spray actually hits, where such o
pray is employed. about half of each 81
pple is usually protected in the tops. q
Where two apples are hanging to- {,
ether the inside surfaces are invari- ID
bly, left unprotected and this is the I
sual place for worm entrance. The 81
nelly divided spray whirls about in a
he foliage, due to the pressure back
f it and In this very fine form actual
Y covers the fruit even though the
un man does not actually shoot at
very surface. This is the reason why u
Ugh pressure and a good volume Of n
pray per minute is necessary, if pro- v
ection is TO be obtained. IL better u
quipment cannot be obtained use ons oI
un on three horse outfits and take II
lenty OF time TO cover the trees. My %
dvice to owners of machines of less M
nan three horse power is to use the W
DDS and not try to spray with the gun. NJ
The second important point to OBJ
srve in spraying is thoroughness of yt
pplication. Many growers believe W
lat they are thorough in their work III
hen in reality they are not Slip 81
lod spraying is usually more costly oe
ian no spraying, in thest the orchard ii'
t not only puts his money into the