304 REPORT 4, UNITED STATES ENTOMOLOG.CAL COMMISSION. 
u The usual way of applying dry poison is to sift it over tbe leaves 
by means of an ordinary bread-sieve firmly attached to a handle 3 or 
4 feet long. One or two layers of muslin should be placed in the 
bottom of the sieve to prevent a too rapid escape of the powder. With 
some practice in handling these sieves the foliage of the plants can be 
pretty evenly dusted, but in general there is considerable waste of the 
poison by tliis method. One man can go over 1 acre per day, but if 
the plants are high enough, and the soil not too much softened by rains, 
the poison can be sifted by men on horseback. This secures a more 
even movement, and consequently less waste of material. Some have 
tried, with advantage, to dust two adjacent rows at once by means of 
a stick of suitable length with a sieve fastened to each end, the oper- 
ator riding between the rows and tapping the stick gently, either with 
his hand or another stick. 
" An old sack, such as those used for table salt, will do good service 
attached to the end of a stick, but the safest thing for use on a small 
scale is a perforated tin box (Plate LVII, Fig. 7), with a double lid 
(for security when not in use), and having a handle 3 or 4 feet long. 
By taking the handle of the dust-box in the left hand, and tapping the 
box with a stick held in the right, the poison may be rapidly and evenly 
distributed, not only on the upper surfaces of the leaves, but on the 
under sides as well rf if the box is held within and among the plants. 
" A number of patents have been taken out for machines for dusting 
the plants with poison, but for some reason or other none have become 
popular, and I have not been able to learn that any of them are in use 
at the present time. The object of these machines is to distribute the 
poison more economically and rapidly than it is done by the simple 
sifting method here mentioned. The reason of their not becoming 
popular is, perhaps, that they do not accomplish their object. The gain 
in the more economic use of the powder is not large enough to induce 
the planters to invest in them, especially where labor is cheap, as the 
employment of an additional hand is more satisfactory." 
The Hurd Sifter and Blower. — This is really a sifting machine with an 
oscillating sieve for feeding the blast of a rotary blower, and is fully 
described as The Hurd Blower above. 
" The Goodheart Buster and Sprinkler. — This machine, invented by Mr. 
James Goodheart, of Matawan, N. J. (patent No. 204720, June 11, 1878"), 
applies both powder and a liquid spray. "The dusting apparatus con- 
sists of a box with a screen bottom, the whole being agitated by means 
of a lever connected with one of the wheels. The sprinkler consists of 
a transverse pipe with a number of holes at its lower forward side. The 
machine is drawn over but one row of plants." — Bulletin No. 3. 
Rotary-sieve Machines. — In these the sieve containing the poison 
is round, generally cylindrical, and receives a rotary motion to assist the 
poison in gravitating through the small perforations. 
Robinson Busting and Sprinkling Machine— Several machines 
