MACHINES FOR CRUSHING LOCUSTS. 



369 



berry, of Padouia, Kans. (Patent No. 188,359, dated March 13, 1877), 

 intended to crush the insects by means of movable wooden bars. It 



Fig. 7C.. 



-The Hansberky Crusher: Sectional 

 view. 



Fig. 77.— The Hansberry Locust-csusher- 

 Front view. 



does not prove very successful, however, except on 

 the very smoothest ground. Fig. 75 is a top view, 

 w^hen mounted on wheels or runners; Fig. 77 repre- 

 sents the front. Fig. 76 is a sectional view of the fig. 78.— the hansberry 



, . . -j^i 1 • V ^ Crushek: Slide attachment. 



machine when on runners, with knives or bars at- 

 tached ; and Fig. 78 shows the slide attached close to the axle to close 

 the angle formed at the side by the ground and the knives or bars, when 

 the machine is mounted on wheels. 



The invention consists in the novel construction and arrangement of a system of 

 knives or bars attached by one end on a pivot or hinge so as to hang at an angle from 

 a suitable frame, while their opposite ends drag freely on the ground, accommodating 

 themselves to the inequalities of the surface, and, as the machine moves forward, 

 crushing and destroying the insects (the frame may be mounted on wheels or on run- 

 ners, as shown by Fig. 75 in the accompanying drawing) ; also, in the slide or cover, 

 Fig. 78, used, when the machine is mounted on wheels, to clothe the angle between the 

 axle and the knives or ba'rs laterally, and in other detaiU of construction hereinafter 

 claimed. 



a are the knives or bars, which may be constructed of wood or iron or of any otber 

 suitable material. Fig. 75, as already stated, shows the machine ready for operation. 

 A section of the cross-bar i of the frame in front is cut away to show in what manner 

 the knives or bars may be attached to the frame h h. The dotted lines x x indicate the 

 place of the runners when the machine is to be operated without wheels. The rods 

 y h end with a hook, to which the draught is applied. To each of these hooks a horse is 

 to be attached. The animals' heads are to be separated by a jockey-stick, so as to cause 

 them to walk a little outside and in front of the line of the wheels or the runner. The 

 animals will thus be separated from 12 to 15 feet, and even 18 feet, according to the 

 width of the machine and its consequent destructive capacity. Each horse will be 

 covered from the back down to the f^-eet on the outside with a canvas cover to be at- 

 tached to the harness. This canvas will extend to the rear and bo connected to the 

 canvas wings c c, as shown in Fig. 77 in the drawing. When the horses are covered in 

 this manner and attached to the machine as described the insects will be gathered and 

 forced toward the center between the horses as the machine advances, where they will 

 be caught and crushed by the knives or bars a, or cut to pieces when these bars are 

 armed with steel blades at the ends. The hood or dash d. Fig. 76, is placed at the ex- 

 treme front, above the throat s, after the manner of a dash on a one-horse sleigh, to 

 catch any insect that might attempt to take wing as the machine moves forward. In 

 attempting to rise they will come in contact with the hood or dash and be thrown to . 

 the ground, where they will be destroyed by the advancing knives or bars. The dash 

 or hood may be made of wood, tin, sheet-iron, or any suitable material — even canvas 

 may be used. To prevent the escape of the grasshopper laterally or at the side through 

 the angle or space formed by the t)ars and the ground when the machine is mounted 

 on wheels, the slide or cover e, Fig. 78, is employed attached to the axle/ with the slot i. 

 The slide or cover may be jointed, as shown in the figure, or in a single piece. By be- 

 ing jointed it will have a single motion up and down, thus accommodating and adjust- 

 ing itself to the inequalities of the ground. The upright parts of the frame /i are held 

 in position by cross-pieces i, and in front is a cross-beam, k, which support may carry 

 canvas wings c c. 



It will be readily understood that when my device is used without wheels it is sup- 

 ported upon runners or parts h, in which case the slide e is not used, but when used 



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