POLES AND UPRIGHTS. 21 



outfit of as many as tweiit3"-five or thirty tents, extra poles should 

 always be on hand as a provision against breakage. A one-half inch 

 rope of either nianila or cotton, about one and one-half times the length 

 of the poles, is attached about 3 or 4 inches from the top of each one that 

 is in use. The tops of the poles are constructed in various styles for 

 catcliing the rings on the tents. The end of the pole may be cut to 

 allow the ring to slip over the end for a short distance, for instance 

 Ih or 2 inches, and to hold the rope in position. Two hardwood pegs 

 driven through auger holes about H inches apart at right angles to 

 one another will serve tliis purpose. The most convenient form for 

 general use is the simple rounded top over which the cloth of the tent 

 is doubled and held in place by a half liitch of the rope (PI. II, figs. 

 1, 2). The lower end of the pole should be "pointed to prevent its 

 slipping on the ground when the tent is being lifted. 



For use with sheet tents wliich are too large for convenient handling 

 with the poles described, a pair of uprights or derricks is needed. 

 These are somewhat heavier poles, with braced crosspieces at the bot- 

 tom to prevent them from falling sidewise when in an upright position, 

 and each is provided with a pulley at the top (see PL IV, fig. 2). 

 A\nien not attached to the ring in the tent the swinging block is 

 hooked to a ring bolt or stout staple located on the upright near the 

 tops of the braces. The poles are 25 feet or more in length, from 3 to 4 

 inches in diameter at the base and tapering to from 2 to 3 inches in diam- 

 eter at the top. They may be made of straight-grained knotless pine or 

 seasoned cypress. Wherever the latter can be obtained it is preferable 

 to pine on account of its lightness. As shown in Plate IV, figure 3, 

 crosspieces about 1 by 3 inches in section are spiked or bolted to each 

 side across the bottom, and brace pieces about 2 by 4 in section extend- 

 ing from between the ends of the brace pieces to the main pole are 

 bolted in position. The crosspieces should be 6 feet in length for 

 derricks 25 or 26 feet high and increasing to about 7h or 8 feet in 

 length for 32 or 33 foot derricks. In the writer's experience derricks 

 are sufficiently long that are within 2 to 3 feet of the extreme height 

 of the trees to be covered, as a consequence of the elasticity of the 

 citrus branches and the fact that within this distance of the extreme 

 top the branches are almost invariably slender. A guy rope one-half 

 or five-eighths inch in diameter and about one and one-half times the 

 length of the upright is attached to the top of each, just above the 

 pulley block. It is convenient to have these ropes easily removable 

 so that they can be used in tying the tents into compact bales when 

 rolled up for transportation or storage. The lifting tackle consists of 

 a rope of the same size as the guy rope and a little less than three 

 times as long as the upright. One end of this is attached to the fixed 

 pulley block at the top of the upright, passes through the movable 

 block, then through the upper fixed block, and the free end is usually 

 tied to one of the brace pieces. 



