304 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
water. The fuel and interest and wear and tear of pump, engine 
and fixtures must be added. There isno question that the irrigation 
of our strawberry grounds proved highly profitable, since the crop 
on other plantations in the neighborhood that were not irrigated 
proved nearly a failure. 
After the berry harvest, the plantation looked so well that, though 
it had already borne two full crops, it was decided to mow and burn 
it over, thin out the plants in the rows and allow it to remain fora 
third crop as a further experiment in irrigation. Almost no rain 
fell until near the middle of September, and, with the exception of 
the check rows, the beds were thoroughly irrigated on July 12 and . 
16 and August17. The plants made a most vigorous growth, and 
during the latter part of the summer, when the severe droughthad - 
destroyed nearly all green herbage, presented a most refreshing ap- 
pearance, looking far more promising than spring set beds that had 
not beenirrigated. The check rows, on the other hand, were nearly 
ruined—long vacant spaces appearing in some of the rows, where 
every plant had perished from the protracted drought. 
A BUG MACHINE. 
Mr. S. D. Willard, of Geneva, N. Y., herewith describes the “bug 
machine” which is used on his place in killing the curculio. It 
consists of an inverted umbrella-like contrivance made of sheeting, 
having a diameter of 9 to 11 feet. This is mounted on a two-wheeled 
wheelbarrow, and it having a slit in one side ending at the inverted 
apex, the man who operates it can readily push it under a tree until 
the trunk is in the centre. Then with a long, paddled stick, the 
operator strikes the limbs a quick blow and the curculios fall upon 
the sheet, and the wheelbarrow is moved on to the next tree. Just 
under the centre is a tin drawer into which the insects are brushed, 
and at the end of the rows the box is removed. 
At point X two of the arms come near together, leaving a space, 
however, wide enough to pass the body of the tree between. The 
The dotted line under figure B represents the body of the tree when 
the machine is set for jarring. The distance across the sheet, for 
instance from E to X, is from 9 to 11 feet; in the machine here shown 
9 feet. A represents the wooden arms that support the sheet, all 
diverging to one centre midway between the wheels, beneath which 
is a tin drawer that is pulled out to D, and the bugs dumped into a 
fire box and burned. 
