Water spray

“ This season I sprayed my trees three times, the first time early in April, using what is known as a dormant spray, using commercial lime-sulphur solution 32 degrees Baume, 20 gallons to a tank of 200 gallons of water, or four times as strong as the two subsequent sprayings, after the blossoms fall, at which later time I use in addition arsenate of lead, 10 pounds to a 200 gallon tank of water, and work under 200 pound pressure—and by doing [Pg 106] thorough work can produce apples almost entirely free from any disease or worms. ”

“ At the same time there rose upon the water a dense white film, which seemed to grow together from a hundred different directions, and was made partly of rain, and partly of the blown edges of the spray. There was but a glimpse of this; for in a few moments it was impossible to see two rods; but when the first gust was over, the water showed itself again, the jets of spray all beaten down, and regular waves, of dull lead-color, breaking higher on the shore. ”

“ A fine-rose spray on the watering-can may be used but a rubber plant-sprinkler costing about sixty-five cents, will be very much better, as with it the water will be applied in a finer spray with a great deal more force and to either the upper or under surface of the leaves—a point of great importance.
Plants growing in windows, where the light strikes them only, or mostly, from one side, should be frequently turned to prevent their growing one-sided. ”

“ Contrivances of the kind unintelligently constructed become a source of danger to the workers. Dust of no value is usually precipitated by being made to pass through a tower down which a fine spray of water falls. If the gases and fumes can be utilised they are either absorbed or condensed—a procedure of the utmost importance for the protection of the workers.
Condensation of the gases into a liquid is effected by cooling and is an essential part of all processes associated with distillation. ”

“ The Vermorel nozzle is the best type to use. The cost of a barrel outfit, including two lines of hose, nozzles and truck, should be from $30 to $40. Power sprayers cost from $150 to $300 or more.
Spraying material: Arsenate of lead should be used in the proportion Of 4 pounds of the chemical to 50 gallons of water. A brand of arsenate of lead containing at least 14 per cent of arsenic oxide with not more than 50 per cent of water should be insisted upon. This spray may be used successfully against caterpillars and other leaf-eating insects in the spring or summer. ”

“ When necessary, add water to this mixture if it is kept too long; never let it dry out. When ready to spray, pour the stock copper sulphate solution into the tank in the proportion of 5 gals. to every 50 of spray required. ”

“ The torrent, swollen by the melting snow, plunges into a tremendous abyss, from which the spray rolls up like the smoke from a burning house. The shaft into which the river hurls itself is an immense chasm, lined by glistening coal-black rock, and narrowing into a creaming, boiling pit of incalculable depth, which brims over and shoots the stream onward over its jagged lip. The long sweep of green water roaring forever down, and the thick flickering curtain of spray hissing forever upward, turn a man giddy with their constant whirl and clamour. ”

“ Sprays of various kinds, such as whale-oil soap, resin sprays, etc., have been used. Frequent spraying with pure water will destroy the mites, but they will multiply again if the climate is favorable. ”

“ Sprayers are charged with sodium thiosulphate—more commonly known as "hypo"—6 [Pg 113] pounds being dissolved in a bucket of water and a handful of ordinary washing soda added.
Garden syringes and buckets may be used if sprayers are not available, but these are not so effective. ”

“ It is not the force with which the spray material is applied that makes it effective, so much as it is the thoroughness with which it is done. You have to do a thorough job. In spraying you are providing insurance for your apple crop. That is just what it means, and not to spray is like doing without fire insurance on your buildings. You do that, not because you want fire, but you are doing it for protection, you are going to be on the safe side. You are doing like the darkey woman when she was about to be married. ”

“ Pretty soon, he stopped spraying, screwed off the container at the bottom of the spraying device and screwed on another can of something else and started in doing the same thing, pumping away very carefully, not letting the spray strike very hard on the sandy tracks, so as not to make any of the sand move. ”

“ Since the effect of the douche depends on the pressure, it will be readily understood that the hose attached to the faucet of the domestic bath-tub is merely a sprinkler, and not a douche, in the proper sense of the word. Such a procedure can only be tolerated by the most robust. In the upper stories of most city houses the pressure is probably not more than from 3 to 10 pounds; the stream of water from the sprinkler is really only a drizzle; the mechanical effects being so slight, there is no reaction produced; the result is that its use is followed by a feeling of chilliness and depression. ”

“ A dense spray prevents a near approach to the fall, which comes down in a perpendicular descent, until within a hundred feet of the bottom, when it strikes a projecting rock, and dashes off in a shower of spray. ”

“ It is interesting to note the tendency of organic matter, when mixed with water, to give rise to explosive and combustible products. Explosions in cesspools and sewers have occurred many times. When wet hay is stored in stack it catches fire. When we stir the mud at the bottom of a pond or river, bubbles of combustible marsh-gas rise to the surface. ”

“ Dunlap says in advocating buying a spraying machine collectively in the neighborhood, for the simple reason that it is necessary to spray at one particular time, at the vital time just before the blossoms fall and at the time they have fallen. We have found it almost impossible to do any spraying for anybody except ourselves at that time. ”

“ Changing the position of the watering devices every few days or setting them on wire-covered platforms will aid in providing sanitary conditions near the watering places where filth is likely to accumulate rapidly. A watertight barrel provided with a drip faucet and a trough also makes a good watering device. Shade should be provided to prevent the drinking water from getting hot. ”

“ In hot and dry weather these nauseating deposits pass into the atmosphere in the form of unhealthy vapors, or, pulverized and drifted by the wind, cause inconvenience and poison our lungs. Indeed, in repairing old pavements, a black layer of ground, saturated with sulphuretted hydrogen, is found below the stone blocks, and bears witness to the infection of the subsoil by the soakage of contaminated water. ”

“ Frozen explosives may be thawed by spreading out on special shelves in a warm thaw house—not in the magazine proper, by burying in a manure pile so that the explosive may not become moistened, or more commonly by heating slowly in a water bath. ”

“ In the various composition of aquatic fire-works, although more care and attention are required, it is to be observed, that, in forming water-rockets, horizontal wheels, water-mines, fire-globes, water-balloons, water-squibs, water-fire-fountains, and the like, substances are generally used along with the usual ingredients, which, under particular circumstances, may be said to repel, as well as resist the action of the water ”

“ For operations on a very small scale a good hand-syringe may be used, but as a general thing it will be best to invest a few dollars more and get a small tank sprayer, as this throws a continuous stream or spray and holds a much larger amount of the spraying solution. ”

“ The odour arising from the surface evaporation of the streets when they are wet is chiefly from horse-dung. Susceptible persons often feel this evaporation, after partial wetting, to be highly oppressive. The surface-water discharged into sewers from the streets and roofs of houses is found to contain as much filth as the soil-water from the house-drains. ”

“ For example, if a mixture of quicklime and naphtha be thrown into water, the rapid rise in temperature of the lime causes a sudden and strong development of vapour from the naphtha, which on mixing with the air becomes highly explosive. ”

“ Pressure.—In spraying, use only enough pressure to wet the surface of the wood. Too much pressure may cause spray to splash onto the body. If you apply the insecticide in an enclosed place, make sure that the air can circulate freely. ”

“ As a simple precaution in one’s own house, always keep the bedroom water-jugs full, and have an exterminator in a handy place ready for immediate use. For places liable to fire—and what building is not—this latter handy instrument, with its peculiar liquid, is invaluable, its contents being worth several times the same quantity of water. For some purposes it is better than the pumps and portable engines so largely employed, and is always a valuable addition to them ”

“ Finally a chemical stream was turned on, the whitish foaming mixture of bicarbonate of soda, sulphuric acid and water spurting upon the flames. There was a hiss, and the part of the fire that was sprayed quickly died out.
But it was evident that several chemical streams would be needed if the fire was to be completely extinguished, whereas two lines of hose were all that were available. In fact nothing but a smothering deluge of water would have been effective, and this was not obtainable.
[155]
“They’ll never get that fire out!” cried a man in the crowd. “Why don’t you let it burn, Chief?” ”

“ Because raindrops differ in size they fall at different velocities and overtake and clash against one another, producing mist and spray. They also, of course, yield unequal compliance to the force of the wind, which gives rise to a still greater degree of interference, and passionate gusts sweep off clouds of spray from the groves like that torn from wave-tops in a gale. ”

“ For it will be seen afterwards that some natural waters in passing through a long course of lead pipes, within which the action goes on without direct access of the atmosphere, contract an impregnation, which is invisible when the water is newly drawn, but after a few hours’ exposure to the air shows itself in the form of a white film and milkiness. ”

“ To make Water more efficacious in extinguishing Fires.—Throw into a pump, which contains fifty or sixty buckets of water, eight or ten pounds of salt or pearlashes, and the water thus impregnated will wonderfully accelerate the extinction of the most furious conflagration. Muddy water is better than clear, and can be obtained when salt and ashes cannot. ”

“ The automatic sprinkler is a device for automatically extinguishing fires through the release of water by means of the heat of the fire, the water escaping in a shower, which is thrown in all directions to a distance of from six to eight feet. The sprinkler is a light brass rose, about 11⁄2 inches diameter and less than two inches high entire, the distributer being a revolving head fitted loosely to the body of the fixed portion, which is made to screw into a half inch tube connection. ”

“ Plants may be sprayed by using a watering pot with a fine rose or sprinkler, or an old hair-brush or clothes-brush. For large plants or large numbers of smaller plants spray pumps of various sizes are used. ”

“ You never see a gardener using any spraying contrivance on the end of a hose. In his thumb and forefinger, which he skillfully moves over the flowing stream, he has a combination of sprayers that can produce the heaviest stream or the finest mist at will. ”

“ If one must be restricted to a single implement, however, it will be best to get one of the hand-power, compressed-air sprayers—either a knapsack pump or a compressed-air sprayer—types of which are illustrated. These are used for applying wet sprays, and should be supplied with one of the several forms of mist-making nozzles, the non- cloggable automatic type being the best. For more extensive work a barrel pump, mounted on wheels, will be desirable, but one of the above will do a great deal of work in little time. Extension rods for use in spraying trees and vines may be obtained for either. ”

“ The dryness of the air, which they occasion, should be remedied, either by placing a vessel, filled with water, on the stove, or by hooking a long and narrow pan, filled with water, in front of the grate; otherwise, the lungs or eyes may be injured. A large number of plants in a room, prevents this dryness of the air. Openings for pipes, through floors, partitions, or fireboards, should be surrounded by tin, to prevent their taking fire. Lengthening a pipe, will increase its draught. ”

“ Types of Explosives.—Explosives which fill some or all these requirements can be divided into two classes, deflagrating and detonating. A deflagration is an explosion transmitted progressively from grain to grain. A detonation is a sudden disruption caused by synchronous vibrations of a wave-like character. The deflagrating explosives are represented by gun-powders and contractors’ powders. They must be carefully tamped in the hole to develop their full power and they must be ignited by a fuse or flame. They are valueless in water or moist holes. ”

“ Should the temperature in a room, for any reason, reach 160 degrees, the sprinkler heads in the immediate vicinity will open automatically, spraying out water which is piped from two tanks having a combined capacity of 600,000 gallons. ”

“ Guarding against explosions.—Apply a coarse spray. It is effective and safe to use. A concentrated fine mist is ineffective and may explode in the presence of a spark or flame. Do not smoke while spraying. ”