Improved Method of Catching Curculios.
This is a novel and curious invention, made by Dr. Hull, of Alton, Ill., for the purpose of jarring off and catching the curculio from trees infested by this destructive insect. It is a barrow, with arms and braces covered with cloth, and having on one side a slot, which admits the stem of the tree. The curculio catcher, or 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 center of the space between the rows, turns round, and in like manner butts the tree in the opposite row. In this way a man may operate on three hundred trees per hour.
A bag and a broom are carried by the operator by which the insects are swept from the cloth and consigned to destruction.
CURCULIO CATCHER.