246 THE APPLE CULTUMIST. 



person can strike with a hammer, would have the effect to 

 bring down many more insects than a single blow. When 

 fruit-trees are of numerous sizes some small and others 

 large much judgment must be exercised in gauging the 

 force of the blows. A light blow with a nail-hammer of 

 ordinary size will be sufficient for many trees six to eight 

 years old. A person of acute perception will soon be able 

 to learn whether the blows given are too heavy or too light. 

 In some instances, where trees are larger, it will be advisa- 

 ble to insert an iron pin, say three-fourths of an inch in di- 

 ameter, into each large limb. The end of all such iron pins 

 that enters the wood should be square, so that oft-repeated 

 blows may not drive them deeper. 



"When sheets are spread on the smooth ground, every 

 insect that drops can be seen readily; and if the number 

 were large, the ends of the sheets can be gathered up quick- 

 ly, and all the " Turks " be crushed in a moment. One per- 

 son can manage such an apparatus as this with facility; 

 and it will be found much more convenient, all things con- 

 sidered, than if the sheets w r ere stretched across frames. 



Catcher on Wheels. Several Western pomologists have 

 recommended the use of a large umbrella-like sheet, sup- 

 ported by a frame-work similar to the frame of a parasol, 

 all of which is to be mounted on a kind of wheelbarrow 

 (Fig. 92, on the opposite page), with a battering-beam in 

 front. The vehicle is then run forcibly against the body 

 of a tree, while the sheet is extended to catch the depreda- 

 tors as they fall. 



The objections to such an apparatus are its cost, incon- 

 venience in handling, and its inefficiency for giving a sharp, 

 jarring blow to the tree. Besides this, when the sheet is 

 spread, if supported two feet or more above the ground, 

 a person can not approach the tree to jar it with a ham- 

 mer. Every person will find that it will be most conven- 



