Fonds AFC473 - Spramotor Company fonds

Spramotor Company manufactured agricultural equipment in London, Ontario and Buffalo, New York. It was established in 1896 by William Henry Heard and eventually taken over by his son, G.N. Heard. It manufactured agricultural equipment, including hand, compressed air, traction and power sprayers meant for orchards, vineyards, potatoes, row crops and destruction of farm weeds. During World War One, Spramotor Co. switched to manufacturing munition shells. Once the war was over, it returned to producing spraying and irrigation equipment.
The headquarters were located in London, Ontario and operated in a number of locations throughout the years. The main office was at 68-74 King Street for a period, with other buildings located on York Street in the 1940s as well as 357 Richmond Street for a time. A branch factory was located in Buffalo, New York to handle the American trade. Spramotor Co. was registered in many countries around the world, with machines being used in Canada, the United States, India, Australia, Russia, Great Britain, New Zealand and in South American countries. The equipment was covered in many different patents to protect them around the world because of their global reach.
Spramotor Co. would put out catalogues with tests that further attested to their success and value, as well as information about common plant diseases and insects. In their 1902 catalogue, they stated, “From five orchards where the Spramotor was used the yield was 2977 barrels of perfect fruit out of a possible 3400… On the other hand, where the orchards were not sprayed the returns were most disappointing.” The company received over one hundred awards all over the world for their equipment, including a gold medal at the Pan-American Exhibition in 1901 and were also the winners of the Government Spraying Contest.