Abstract
THIS little book on spraying is intended as a referencebook and guide for practical men. It is exceedinglybrief, consisting of a short account of various typesof spraying machines, including dusting apparatus;descriptions of and recipes for the more commonlyused spray fluids; and a series of tables of insect andfungus pests, arranged under crop headings, giving thekind of injury caused by each pest and the sprayrecommended for its control. Unfortunately, thesubject does not lend itself to quite such cut-and-driedtreatment. The. identification of a pest from adescription of the injury, which seldom exceeds five orsix words in length, is rarely likely to be successful. Moreover, the instructions for making up the sprayfluids are in some cases so brief as to be incomprehensible. Chemical formulae are used to excess, frequently without any clear indication of the ordinaryname of the substance; and inaccuracies and mis-statements are inexcusably numerous. What is thefruit-grower to make of the following, with reference to Bordeaux mixture: “The liquid should be thoroughlytested for excess of CuSO4 and Ca(OH)2. If it does notrespond to these tests it is unfit for the purpose forwhich it is intended”? Under the heading of crudepetroleum we get the information: “Specific gravity of crude petroleum ranges from 1.049 (A) (ethane) to 0.775.180° (hexadecane). Boiling-point of ethane as asolid is -86°.” Sulphur dioxide has “specific gravity 1.433680°. 2. 2639(A).” Directions for the use ofnicotine sulphate are included, but not for nicotine.Many similar quotations could readily be given. If theauthor had left out most of the “chemistry” anddevoted the space to some elaboration of the sprayfluid recipes, the book might have proved useful to thegrowers and farmers for whom it was written. As it is, it cannot be recommended as helpful.
A Manual for Spraying.
K. L.
Cockerham
By. Pp. xi + 87. (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1923.) 7s. net.
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G., C. A Manual for Spraying . Nature 115, 375 (1925). https://doi.org/10.1038/115375a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/115375a0