Historic Hood River
Gasoline Powered Sprayer, 1913
11-8-2012
Notes
Ah, the days before OSHA. This spraying outfit was photographed at the Dethman ranch in November 1913. It is identified as being gasoline powered, though it was pulled behind horses. Perhaps one of our orchardists can explain what they were spraying in November.
This image courtesy of OSU Mid-Columbia Agricultural Research and Extension Center. Photo by J.R. Winston.
charlott
I shall guess that they are probably spraying what we call "a clean up spray.’ Getting a handle on any pests as the trees went dormant for the winter. I would also venture a guess they are spraying apples, as keep in mind Hod River was apple country prior to that 1919 wipe out freeze.
Keep in mind that in that time frame harvest of apples took a lot longer. I have diaries of my grandpas where he was stll picking apples at the first snow. Part of the reason being they did not have the equpment that we all know of now to make things progress faster
How much spray chemicals I have in my system who knows. Grandpa’s spraying was done by gravity flow. His spray rig was stationary at the top of the orchard. Over head lead pipes were in place with faucets every so often. Big black hoses were dragged from faucet to faucet. Grandpa’s job was keeping the spray mixed up and going through the overhead net work……..along with the help of his grand-daughter who played all day on the platform in the spray bags and bottles………….DDT and all………
Grandpa did that year after year, nothing such as any protective gear and he lived to be 100………….
l.e.
Probably wouldn’t want to use those barrels for cider.
My grandmother was digging the potato crop in January when she went into labor with my father.
Now days, if nature doesn’t provide the killing frost to the potato plant, they can spray them and continue with harvest during late summer/early fall.