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After the tent is sewed up it is given a coat of black paint, as it has 
been ascertained that tents treated in this manner last longer than 
those which have been simply oiled with linseed oil. Some persons mix 
a small quantity of soap suds with the paint in order to render the lat- 
ter more pliable when dry, and therefore less liable to crack. Instead 
of thus painting the tent some persons simply give it a coating made of 
an inferior grade of glue called “ size,” first dissolving this in water and 
then covering the tent with it, using a whitewash brush for this pur- 
pose. Sometimes a small quantity of whiting or chalk (carbonate of 
lime, Ca Co;),is added to this sizing with or without the addition of lamp- 
black. A few make use of the mucilaginous juice of the common Cactus 
(Opuntia engelmanni Sali.) for this purpose; to obtain this the Cactus 
leaves or stems are cut or broken up into pieces, thrown into a barrel 
and covered with water, after which they are allowed to soak for three 
or four days; the liquid portion is then drawn off and is ready for use 
without further preparation. Tents which I saw that had been pre- 
pared with this substance were to all appearances as air-tight and pli- 
able as when prepared in any other manner. 
A tent 26 feet tall by 60 feet in cireumference—a size large enough to 
cover the largest orange tree now growing in this State—if made out of 
drilling, and either painted or sized, as described above, will cost com- 
pleted about $60. Where the trees to be treated are not more than 12 
feet tall the tent can be placed over them by means of poles in the 
hands of three persons; to accomplish this, three iron rings are sewed to 
the tent at equal distances around and 6 or 7 feet from the bottom of 
the tent; immediately under each of these rings an iron hook is attached 
to the lower edge of the tent. When the latter is to be placed over a 
tree each of the hooks is fastened into the corresponding ring above it ; 
one end of a pole is then inserted into each of these rings and the tent 
raised up and placed on the tree. The hooks are then released from the 
rings and the lower edge of the tent allowed to drop upon the ground. 
Instead of allowing the tent to rest directly on the tree some growers 
use an umbrella-like arrangement, the handle of which is in two pieces, 
which are fastened together with clamps provided with pins; this 
allows the handle to be lengthened or shortened according to the height 
of the tree. This apparatus is put up over the tree and the tent allowed 
to rest upon it. By the use of this simple device the danger of break- 
ing off the small twigs on the upper part of the tree by the weight of 
the tent is avoided. Mr. Leslie, of Orange, used four tents and tent- 
rests of this kind, and he informs me that with the aid of two men he 
tumigated 120 trees in one night. To remove the tent from one tree, 
place it over another, and charge the generator required only one minute 
and a half. In the place of poles some persons attach a circle of gas 
pipe to the lower edge of the tent; then two men, each taking hold of 
opposite sides of this circle, throw the tent over the tree. Dr. J. H. 
Dunn, of Pomona, informs me that four men, using six tents like the 
