318 THE PLUM. 



nexed figure, (245,) a nd as soon as the insects are jarred 

 down upon it, it is half closed and shaken, when all its con- 

 tents roil to the centre and fall through a hole, three inches 

 in diameter, into a vessel of hot water carried for this pur- 

 pose. Such an umbrella may be procured at the manufac- 

 turers, six or seven feet in diameter, for about three dollars, 

 and will save a hrge amount of labor. Next to this in con- 

 venience, are double square frames covered with white mus- 

 lin, shutting together like the leaves of a book, and enable 

 the operator to throw all the fallen insects into hot water at 

 one movement of the hands. 



A quick and sudden jar is important, and may be given 

 by the stroke of a mallet, upon the short stump of one of the 

 smaller limbs, sawed off for this purpose, and which prevents 

 bruising the bark. Or a mallet may be thickly covered 

 with woolen cloth encased in India rubber, to prevent in- 

 jury to the tree; but the jar is less sudden in this case, 

 David Thomas, (who first proposed jarring down on sheets,^ 

 in a communication to the Genesee Farmer, in 1S32, says, 

 "Not three days ago, I saw that many of the plums were 

 punctured, and began to suspect that shaking the tree was 

 not sufficient. Under a tree in a remote part of a fruit 

 garden, having spread the sheets, I therefore made the fol- 

 lowing experiment: On shakimg it well,! caught five cur- 

 culios ; on jarring it with the hand, I caught twelve more; 

 an on striking the tree with a stone, eight more dropped on 

 the sheets. I was now convinced that I had been in an er- 

 ror ; and calling in the necessary assistance, and using a 

 hammer to jar the tree violently, we caught in less than an 

 hour, more than two hundred and sixty of these insects." 

 With large trees, it may be necessary to shake each limb 

 separately, by means of a pole with the woolen and india- 

 rubber knob, already described, at its extremity. * 



The best time for this work is in the cool of the morning; 

 when the insects are partly torpid with cold, and drop quick- 

 ly. At mid-day they retain their hold more tenaciously, and 

 more quickly escape. The work should be commenced 

 very early in the season, as soon as the fruit begins to set, 

 or is not larger than a small pea. With properly stiffened 

 muslin frames, a few minutes are sufficient for many trees, 



Sae Appendix, _page 417.' 



