[118] REPORT 4, UNITED STATES ENTOMOLOGICAL COMMISSION. 
flexile connectives between their tops. But should any prefer that the hanging 
parts be elevated above the plants in turning, this is easily done. For such purpose, 
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 over to 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 alread.v noticed ; but where the pipe is too heavy or rough to slide easily the 
hand of the pumper must occasionally be used upon the proximal or crank end to 
shove the pipe 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 iu 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 t wo 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 sliding 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 A-frame answers, and a series of 
small sloping 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 top 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 he accomplished. As 
fields could not be found having rows practically of the same regular width as the 
spaces al 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 obtainnient 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 
Miiiill form the whole pipe system can occasionally be moved laterally by hand as the 
row irregularities require it. ^ 
The forks were operated dragging upon the ground, and also seP at different 
