The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1877-01-04
fer the farmer.
pRorECT YOUR FRUIT TREES.

Then. we say, begin the rabbits. Protect
vonr trees ut all hazards. There are q great
MANY ways to effect this, but they all involve
work. About every orcharlist and nnrseryinan
has his own way of doing this, and the success
of the way depends much upon energy and per-
sistence. One man will tell you to get q grey
hound and keep the rabbits hunted down being
NO hunter, we cannot v0nch for the success of
this plan. Another will tell us to get liver, or
a bucket of blood from the Butchers and rub
the bloody liver or the blood upon the trees as
high up as the rabbits can reach this plan is u.s.
ually effectual as long as the blood remains on
the trees but to be entirely safe will generally
need renewing once twice during the winter.
1t is safe avoid any greasy substance in smearing
the trees for while we may possibly keep off the
rabbits We may coax. the hungry dogs to gnaw our
trees not for the bark but for the grease One
man recommends a mixture made of one pint of
four four quarts of boiling water, and four
quarts of strong white ash, to be applied with
n broom. And another recommends one part
unslacked lime, and two parts soft soap; slack
the lime in boiling water and paint the bodies
of the trees with the composition. We are try
ing a composition made of -four one pint, fresh
lime ane pint, soft soap pint, and water
enough to bring the whole to the consistency of
ordinary oil paint. This we have applied to sew
eral hundred trees with brush.
Now, we do not feel quite sure of any of these
compositions, for in an emergency the rabbits
may find it convenient to go through any of
them. In ninety mine cases out of hundred
they may prove all that IS needed, yet they NAV
sometimes fail. If we tie up our trees with hay,
straw, other material we shall make a sure
thing of it; and if We put on this protection SO
that it can remain next season, it may serve an
other important purpose in protecting the trees
from scalding by the sun if the grasshoppers de-
foliate them, as they very likely may.
Of all the modes of protection which We have
tried or seen tried, those plans which dispose of
the rabbit suit us best. Trap him if you can,
but poison him whenever and wherever it can
be done. Dead rabbits eat no trees and will have
no young rabbits in the spring. A pound of ar
senic and bushel of apples or sweet potatoes
are good investment at this season of the year.
Quarter your apples, tor sweet potatoes will
do as well) roll them in arsenic, and scatter
them over your grounds just at evening, where
you find the tracks of the rabbits. Early in the
morning gather up the unconsumed pieces for
safety Keep putting the pieces out each eve
ming for few days, taking them up in the morn
Ing, and you will have no further trouble with
the rabbits unless they come from surrounding
farms. In that case you must use more arsenic.
We prefer the poison wherever it can be used
without danger to the family or domestic ami
mails. There should be some concert of action in
the destruction of this pest of the orchardist.
Our first object will be, of course to protect our
trees. Our second should be to render the pro-
lection efectual by the entire destruction of the
rabbits themselves.-Prof. Gale, in Indastriaiist.