REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 129 
Tam not aware that this fumigator has as yet been patented, although I am of 
the opinion that the inventor has applied for letters patent. 
The Culver Fumigator.—This fumigator was devised by Mr. John P. Culver, of 
Los Angeles, who, on the 26th of July, 1887, obtained a patent on the same (No. 
367184). While both the Wolfskill and the Titus fumigators allow the tent to 
ass down over the tree from above, the present one incloses the tree from one side, 
eing made in the form of two half-tents, which encompass the tree and meet upon 
the opposite side. A very good idea of this fumigator can be gleaned from Plate VI. 
The frame-work of the tent may be constructed either of wood or of band iron, 
and the covering may be a light grade of tin or a heavy grade of canvas or of bed- 
ticking well oiled with boiled linseed oil. The edges, which are to meet when the 
tent is closed, should be covered with a thick layer of felt. 
The tent is transported from tree to tree upon a pair of runners, like those of a 
sled, fastened together by several cross-pieces, one of which is exactly in the middle, 
and near one end of this cross-piece is firmly attached an upright post, tall enough 
to reach a little above the lower edge of the roof of the tent; this post is further 
strengthened by two wooden braces attached to it near its upper end, their lower 
ends being attached to the runner on the opposite side of the sled. The two halves 
of the tent are attached to the post by means of four hinges, two of which are at- 
tached to the frame of the tent near its lower edge and not far from the juncture 
of the two halves, while the other two are attached to the frame near the lower 
edge of the roof. The opposite ends of these hinges are attached to upright rods 
fastened to the post near its upper and its lower ends, and are so arranged as to 
allow the tent to be raised or lowered, independent of the post; they are so con- 
structed that when the tent is being closed it is pushed forward until it is entirely 
clear of the sled, so that when the tent is closed it can be dropped upon the ground. 
The raising and lowering of the tent is accomplished by means of a lever applied 
to the frame of the tent near the point where one of the lower hinges is attached. 
In taking the tent off of the tree the tent is first raised up with the lever until 
its lower edge is above the upper side of the sled, after which the tent is opened and 
the two halves are swung around and allowed to rest upon the sled, as shown in Plate 
VI. The sled is then Grawn forward until the junction of the two halves of the 
tent is brought opposite to the middle of the second tree, when the tent is slightly 
raised by the lever and the two halves swung around until they inclose the tree, 
after which they are fastened together and dropped upon the ground. The hinges 
at the upper end of the upright post on the sled are so constructed as to allow the 
tent to lean either backward or forward, so that its lower edge may conform to the 
surface of the ground. 
I have been able to make only a single test with a fumigator of this kind, and it 
gave very good satisfaction. I am of the opinion that this fumigator will prove to 
be both cheaper and easier to operate than either of these described above. There 
is still need of some device by which the same tent could be made smaller or larger 
at the will of the operator, so that it may be made to conform to the size of the 
different trees. Mr. Culver, the inventor, informs me that he intends to use two of 
these fumigators, transmitting the gas from one tent to the other, but it is impossi- 
ble at the present writing to say whether or not he will meet with success, as no 
tests of this kind have as yet been made. Tf successful, this method would reduce 
the cost of treating a tree at least one-half.* 
THE GAS. 
Among the numerous gases which I have tried none have given such good results 
as the hydrocyanic acid gas; even arseniureted hydrogen and sulphureted hydro- 
gen, which areso fatal to the higher animals when respired, fail to produce the same 
deadly etfects upon the scale-insects that is produced by the hydrocyanic acid gas. 
The latter, when generated in the usual manner, by acting with sulphuric acid 
upon potassium cyanide dissolved in water, is very destructive tothe foliage of the 
trees confined in it. To remedy this three methods are at present known, viz: The 
dry cyanide process, which consists of acting upon the dry potassium cyanide with 
sulphuric acid; the dry gas process, consisting of acting with sulphuric acid upon 
potassium cyanide dissolved in water and passing the gas through sulphuric acid; 
and the cyanide and soda process, which consists of mixing bicarbonate of soda with 
potassium cyanide dissolved in water and adding the mixture to sulphuric acid. 
The dry Cyanide Process.—In my early experiments with this gas it was plainly 
*Mr. Coquillett writes later: ‘‘The tent of the Culver fumigator is now made 
without a frame-work, except the two arches; this makes it both cheaper and lighter 
than before, permitting the tent to more nearly conform to the shape of the differ- 
cnt trees confined in it,”—C, V. R. | 
AG 87 9 
