Vol. 16—1962 - NorthEastern Weed Science Society

332
VARIATIONDfTHE I'UJt1RATE(Jt
GlWIJLAB.Am.1CATcai$l
~.~C'. Glace,J •. A. ~ and P. W. sant~2
'. :" ,'''~ , .;, " Lr1d "',; ": ~,',~·:)S;):". "
(;t'anylar 'b.rb~cLde8 are .incr~i.I4Ds in 1mportan~et.pthe eastern Unite4"
States, 'a8 is'evidenced by increaBing'sales of this form of herbicides.
However, there has been considerable question as to the efficienty of the
machines used to apply the granular particles. This is one of the main
problems confronting those who would rather use the granular forms of
herb1ci4es.Tb,e i!n~ortance of th'dlJ;'0blem is becOllliqal~~ acute as
herbic1d~. ,fOtlDul~~X:s Jllake granular;:JII&~rialsmore con-.~tr.ted, part1cularlyt
where the rates apPlied per acrear.~ 'lUa;Y low. 'rhisl!'.Wez:wntwas set UP- I
to .dfitetmine if, tht.te,.11 vari~i4,~~ -(n cOIIIIIlercial.srMUlar appliqators.
MaterJ.!1eend
Methods
" _ ' • .,i _ ,: .'.' .'. . . r -':,
Four different granul.ar app~~~tOf~s wer,e compare~. "Two of th •• e machi••
were row crop applicators and two were of the law spreader tyPe. All were the
most recent models of machines widely available on the market. ,They were as
follOWs: ' .
Applicator 1 - A row crop herbicide applicator, planter mounted,
ground driven, 2 row type, the output regulated by a dial on the
rear of the hopper which moved a plate on the bottom of the
hopper and adjusted the hopper openings, with a flanged force
feed rotor bar (agitator) inside the hopper at the base, the
flanges treversing the full width of the hopper.
Applicator 2 - Similar to Applicator 1 except that the flanged
agitator bar inside the hopper did not traverse the full hopper
width. The flanges only covered the immediate area of the outlet
holes.
Spreader 1 - A standard 2 wheel, oblong hopper lawn spreader, with
the outlet holes covered on the outside of the hopper by a base
plate. In operation the plate moves to the rear to open the holes.
The output is regulated (by means of a c~librated plate on the
hopper) by the distance the base plate is moved.
Spreader 2 - Similar to Spreader 1 except that the output is
regulated by a dial at the upper end of the handle. This limits the
degree to which the handle can be turned to open the holes in the
base of the hopper. The base plate moves to the side to open the
outlet holes, rather than to the rear.
!/ Scientific Article No. A952 Contribution No. 3315, of the Maryland
Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Agronomy.
1/ Graduate Assistant, Assistant Professor and Associate Professor,
respectively, Department of Agronomy, Maryland Agricultural Experiment
Station, College park, Maryland.