GO 



hat father or other substance, being careful to use no more than necessary to protect the- 

 tree from bruising. Ascertain the elevation the fiandles should have ia driving and sup- 

 port them in that position. We now put in place the stretchers or arms, six for each 

 side, which are to receive and support the canvas. We put the front arms in position. 

 These extend back to'near the centre of the wheel on each side, and in front of the wheel 

 (for large machines), say six feet, are far enough apart to receive the largest tree be- 

 tween them on which it is intende d to operate. The remaining arms are supported on 

 the handles and fastened to them and to the two cross and parallel pieces in the rear of 

 the wheel. These are so placed as to divide the space at their outer ends equally between 

 them and the first-mentioned stretchers, and fastened to the ends of the handles. Next 

 we have ready a strip of half-inch board, two-and-a-half wide, One end of this is secured 

 to the forward end of one of the front arms, and in like manner to all the others on one 

 side of the machine, and fastened to the handles. Both sides are made alike. The office 

 of these strips is to hold the outside ends of the arms in position ; they also hold the front 

 arms from closing. These outside strips also receive the outside edge of the canvas which 

 is fastened to them as well as to the several arms and supports. It will be seen that the 

 wheel is nearly in the centre of the machine. To cover the opening at this point, a frame 

 is raised over it, which is also covered with canvas. The arms or stretchers are so curved 

 that the motion of the machine, in moving from one tree to another, should bring every- 

 thing falling on the canvas to depressed points, one on each side of the wheel." A bag 

 and broom are carried with the machine, and, as occasion requires, the contents of the 

 stretcher are swept into the bag, which is afterwards dipped into boiling water to kill the 

 inmates. " The whole machine should not exceed ten or eleven feet in breadth, by twelve 

 or thirteen in length. These are for large orchard trees ; smaller ones could be protected 

 with a much smaller machine. If the frame work has been properly balanced, the ma- 

 chine will require but little lifting, and will be nearly propelled by its own weight. The 

 curculio catcher cr machine is run against the tree three or four times with sufficient force- 

 to impart a jarring motion to all its parts. The operator then backs far enough to bring 

 the machine to the centre of the space between the rows, turns round, and in like manner 

 butts the trees in the opposite row. In this way a man may operate on three hundred 

 trees per hour. The frame covering the wheel is made of fine board, while the handles 

 for propelling the machine are riveted above the canvas instead of being fastened below it, 

 and the Doctor finds that this last arrangement gives him better leverage and greater con- 

 trol of the machine." The machine is, in fact, simply a cotton sheet stretched upon a 

 frame, looking not unlike the wheelbarrows in use upon our public works, only much 

 broader. The side and top views given below will, perhaps, convey a more accurate idea 

 of the form of the catcher than any description. Figs. 58 and 59— c, handles; A, open- 

 ing to receive the trunk of the tree ; B, buffer. 



An. improvement has been made, we believe, on 

 Dr. Hull's machine, by substituting two wheels in- 

 stead of one, and thus making the draught some- 

 what easier. The expense, we presume, will be 

 somewhat more, but it is claimed that the advan- 

 tages secured fully compensate the extra outlay. 



There has been considerable discussion as to the- 

 best time of day for the jarring process, many per- 

 sons advocating the latter part of the day, while 

 others, again, insist that the early morning is the 

 better time. The evidence offered on both sides 

 is very strong, but we incline to the view that the 

 morning is the surest time for making a good haul 

 where the jarring can only be given once a day ; 

 the oftener, however, the operation can be repeated 

 during the time the curculios are laying their eggs, 

 Kg. 59. the more certainty there will be of a good crop of 



plums. 



There is yet another remedy against the matured insects which has been proclaimed! 



Side view — vertical section, 



Fig. 58. 



Top view. 



