## 3 Results and Discussion
The horizontal distribution of the liquid broadcast by the flat-fan nozzles is presented in Figure 6. The greatest peak-to-peak deviations from the mean values were observed in the proximity of the first two diffusers, positioned closest to the sprayer's axis of symmetry. The spray rate was highest around the sprayer's axis of symmetry where the diffusers and the corresponding nozzles were spaced 60 cm apart. The lowest was between the second and the third diffuser, i.e., in the segment of the boom where the nozzles and diffusers were spaced 90 cm apart. In these cases, the auxiliary air stream intensified the described effect by increasing the amount of spray liquid in the central part of the boom and decreasing the amount of spray liquid between the second and the third diffusers. Therefore, it could be assumed that the spray coverage was more uniform when the diffusers and nozzles were spaced 80 cm rather than 60 cm or 90 cm apart. Similar observations were made when analyzing the uniformity of the horizontal spray distribution (Table 3). In each analyzed case (excluding the variant without an SAB where each diffuser was connected to one nozzle positioned along the diffuser's axis of symmetry), more desirable values of the coefficient of non-uniformity and the \(CV\) of the horizontal spray distribution were noted in the boom segments where the nozzles were spaced 80 cm apart. However, the recommended values [27; 28] of these coefficients were achieved only in the variant without an SAB, where two hollow-cone nozzles were positioned on both sides of the diffuser's axis of symmetry at a distance of 9 cm from the axis. The spray distribution in the horizontal plane was far less uniform when the SAB was activated (at both fan-speed settings), despite the fact that the airflow velocity was leveled at that height. [PERSON] et al. [24] suggested that distribution uniformity could be improved by decreasing the relative angle between air and liquid streams, which would increase the moisture content of the auxiliary air stream and facilitate the transport of droplets to the canopy. When the over-row sprayer was equipped with flat-fan nozzles, a minor improvement in the values of the coefficient of non-uniformity and the \(CV\) of the horizontal spray distribution was noted only when the fan was operated in first gear and when the nozzles were spaced 80 cm apart, both in the variant with one and two nozzles. The values of the examined coefficients were least desirable when the analysis covered the entire boom and when the SAB was activated, the fan was operated in second gear, and each diffuser was connected to one nozzle positioned along the diffuser's axis of symmetry(due to the \(CV\) of the horizontal spray distribution) or to two nozzles separated by a distance of 9 cm from the axis of symmetry (due to the coefficient of non-uniformity of the horizontal spray distribution). In the above scenario, the values of the examined coefficients were high (generally much above the recommended values), which confirmed previous observations that nozzles should be spaced 50 cm apart when a sprayer boom is positioned 50 cm above a stand [8; 29]. The spacing between nozzles can be increased when crops are grown in widely spaced rows where the spray liquid has to be applied in the middle of each row or between rows.