METHODS OF APPLICATION. The apparatus needed to obtain the mist-like spray referred to above are nozzles, hose, and a force-pump. The nozzles are the most important part of the ma chine. Those of the `Vermorel' type are con sidered the most satisfactory for short range, and the McGowan for long.. Most progressive orchardists use the former upon the ends of long bamboo tubes, the operators often being raised upon platforms as shown in the figure. A common form of apparatus is the so-called 'knapsack' pump, a tank which is strapped over the shoul ders like a knapsack. It contains a very com pact and powerful pump, and is convenient for small plots and for crops that have grown too large to permit the entrance of a wagon sprayer. Success in combating plant diseases depends upon the thoroughness with which the fungicides are applied. No fixed rules can be given as to times for spraying, but in general three or four applications should be given at intervals of ten days or two weeks. If much rainy weather intervene, one or two additional sprayings may be profitably given. In spraying fruit-trees and vines of all kinds, the first application should be given just as the buds begin to swell, but before they show characteristic color. No spray
ing should be given when the plants are in blos som, but one should follow the fall of the petals. Plant diseases are worse during some seasons than during others; hot, moist weather favors the rapid growth of many fungi. Perennial plants should be sprayed every season to keep them in good condition; the increased yields of better crops will more than pay for the trouble and expense of spraying. Spraying is preventive, not remedial.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Lodeman, The Spraying of Bibliography. Lodeman, The Spraying of Plants (New York, 1896) ; Weed, Spraying Crops (New York, 1895) ; Prillieu, Maladies des plantes ayricoles (Paris, 1895) ; Holirung, Chemische Mittel gegen Pflanzenkrankheiten (Berlin, 1898) ; Massee, Text-book of Plant Diseases (New York, 1899). Consult, also, numerous bulletins of the Agricultural Experiment Stations and of the United States Department of Agriculture, Wash ington, D. C. See also FUNGI; BACTERIA; BASI DIOMYCETES; ASCOMYCETES, etc.