20 



THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF 



As a step in the right direction I will briefly describe a machine 

 which I have herewith illustrated, (Fig. 3 ? back view; Fig. 4, front 

 view), and which I found in quite general use around St, Joseph and 

 Benton Harbor, Michigan. It was gotten up by Mr. L. M. Ward of the 

 latter place, and proves, in the orchard, to have decided advantages 

 over the Hull machine, of which it is a modification. It is a much 

 lighter machine, and, as the diagrams indicate, instead of running on 

 a single wheel it is carried and balanced by two, (Fig. 3, c c) and sup- 

 ported with legs on the han- 

 dles, (Fig. 3, b J), When not 

 running. The Curculios and 

 stung fruit are brushed 

 through a hole in the centre 

 (Fig. 3, d), and as the oper- 

 ator passes from one tree to 

 another he closes this hole, to 

 prevent the beetles from es- 

 caping, by means of a slide, 

 (Fig. 3, a), which he has under 

 control. Bags previously pre- 

 pared, by being fastened on a 

 square piece of wood with a 

 hole in the centre correspond- 

 ing to a hole in the side of the 

 bag, are snugly buttoned be- 

 low (Fig. 3, e and f), so as to 

 secure everything that falls 

 through from above, and when 

 one bag is full it is easily replaced by another, and its contents de- 

 stroyed by scalding, or otherwise, and emptied out. In most of the 

 orchards where this machine was being used, the jarring was per- 

 formed by a separate mallet, which is easily hung, as is also the brush, 

 on the shafts when the machine is being operated by one person, or, 

 which I think a better way, where help is not scarce, it can, with the 

 brush, be carried by a second person (an intelligent boy will answer,) 

 who performs the jarring and brushing while the first person wheels 

 the machine. 



The machine is simple in construction, and anyone with ordinary 

 mechanical ability can build it — modifying, of course, the diameter 

 of the wheels and the inclination of the sheet to suit the character of 

 his trees or of his ground. Mr. Ward has taken no patent out for it,, 

 and the machine is, therefore, public property. The platform may be 

 made narrower than shown in the illustration, for the nearer the 

 wheels approach and the lighter the machine, the better. It has been 

 argued in favor of the one-wheel machine, that it can be more easily 



