[118J REPORT 4, UNITED STATES ENTOMOLOGICAL COMMISSION. 



flexile connectives between tlieir tops. But should any prefer that the hanging 

 parts be elevated above the plants in turning, this is easily done. For such puri)08e, 

 and to shorten the leverage in lifting, the descending part should preferably have a 

 flexile joint just below midway, to bend like a knee when the lift is made. The up- 

 per half of the descending pipe is rigidly continuous with the stiff parallel part, form- 

 ing therewith a bent angle, while the proximal end of the parallel part is turned 

 backward as a hollow tubular crank, having its handle-end communicating with one 

 of the radiating or slack hose pipes, which allow the stiff parts to be shifted laterally. 

 By swinging the backward crank-shaped part of the pipe overto a forward position, 

 into a catch, the hanging parts of the pipe are swung upward above the plants and 

 sustained there. This season two, three, and four of these crank-ended pipes were 

 tried, combined with the same bar. When the horizontal part of such a pipe is short 

 or not too heavy it will be shifted laterally automatically by the trailing part by the 

 method already noticed ; but where the pipe is too heavy or rough to slide easily the 

 hand of the pumper must occasionally be used uj)on the proximal or crank end to 

 shove the pij^e into such position as will suitably adjust the nozzles to the rows. 



In the divergent arrangements thus indicated the shifting or lateral adjustability 

 is permitted by opening or shutting the angles between the diverging tubes, and this 

 is, in its operation, in some sense, analogous to taking out and letting out slack in the 

 connecting parts between the nozzles. By a surplus amount of inflection or slack, by 

 joint or other flexibility, in a tube or tubes connecting the tops of any two neighbor- 

 ing pipes, whether right, left, or mesial, in a system, the two can be separated, ap- 

 proximated, or independently adjusted to the extent desired. By this method the 

 stiff pieces eliding on the bar and supporting the pipe-tops can be short, light, and ar- 

 ranged somewhat end to end, joined in tandem order, with intermediate flexile crooks 

 that may be extended or shortened as operated by the automatic action of the trailing 

 branch. These tandem gangs of light, sliding segments for supporting or supplying 

 the tops of the pipes, have stood a satisfactory test in the cotton this season. 



Such parts may also be arranged on bars having a slope backward or downward, 

 as on the /^-frames, or other kinds of frames, or they can be set in a somewhat zigzag 

 manner on a cross-bar. This use of a slope gives certain advantages, and character- 

 izes some varieties of apparatus closely related to that just noticed. In these, the 

 pulling of the downward pipe, by its gravitation or friction, causes its top piece, 

 which has an inclination to slide on the slope, to travel in a diagonal direction along 

 on the support and across the rows ; but working in opposition thereto is a pull-line 

 or cord having one end on a winder near the hand of the pumper. Letting out the 

 line allows the pipe to travel farther along the slope, and winding it up draws the 

 pipe in the opposite direction. Thus, any pipe at a distance can be easily shifted and 

 set at a point to suit by letting' out or drawing the line. This principle I have exe- 

 cuted in three ways : In the first, the supply tube supports the hung-pipe and slides 

 in eyes situated diagonally with reference to the hung-pipe. In the second, the pipe- 

 top is supplied by a flexile piece of hose, and is supported by a long slide-rod on one 

 or two of its sides, and inserted through loose eyes placed diagonally from the course 

 of traction, as in the foregoing case. In the third instance, the top is similarly sup- 

 plied by a hose, but is hung by a peculiar locked hook, eye, or loop which glides loosely 

 on a stiffly-set diagonal bar. The simple wooden /^-frame answers, and a series of 

 small 8loi)ing metal bars of gas-pipe were arranged on a wooden cross-bar. This de- 

 vice worked well. Many kinds of winders would apply, but a simple plan is to wind 

 the small rope or cord around a pair of large eye-screws placed 3 inches apart. The 

 set line can be attached at any point along the sliding parts. Behind the proximal 

 end of the range, through which any pipe-top is to be allowed to slide, the line may 

 pass through a large screw-eye and thence to an extension of the pipe-top above the 

 axis on which it is hung. Then the pipe may be drawn to this place, and by an extra 

 pull its tox3 will be brought down to the eye and the lower parts of the pipe will be 

 tilted upward above the plants for turning, when this feature is desired. * * * 



The leading conclusions from the experiments upon the special points in my in- 

 structions may be extracted from the above and briefly summarized as follows : 



At Selma, I operated the machine taken from the Department and tested the 

 points in question, so far as circumstances permitted. The distinctive feature of the 

 machine, its stiff" supporting pipes, unfitted it for the work to be accomplished. As 

 fields could not be found having rows practically of the same regular width as the 

 spaces at which the downward pipes were held stiff by their supporting pipe, that 

 permitted no independent lateral adjustment of the tops of the hanging pipes with 

 reference to each other or to the rows having different or varying widths, this vital 

 impediment at the outset frustrated its use and the obtainment of results dependent 

 thereon. The tests showed that with a pipe-system, without lateral adjustability at 

 the top, very few rows, usually not more than four, can be treated at once. In this 

 small form the whole pipe systerh can occasionally be moved laterally by hand as the 

 row irregularities require it. 



The forks were operated dragging upon the ground, and also set at different 



