The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1904-04-01


Jacks attacked our trees in the hot
test weather in July. They did con-
siderable harm till we rubbed some
blood on the trees and then they let
them a,one. A rabbit is very dainty
in his tastes and will not touch any
thing that has a bad smell about it.
The next year when they began their
work We brushed our trees with a
light coat of rancid fish oil and they
let them alone severely. In some Sec
tons of our state the custom pre-
walls of wrapping the young trees
with paper and tying it on with Irvine
strings. This is effectual. There are
tree protectors sold by some nursery
men and they will prevent these raw
ages. The jack rabbits have all dis
appeared from our section of the Yaki-
ma valley and no doubt the same thing
will occur in other sections where
now they are a pest. Besides they
do no harm to trees after they are
few years old. What a fortunate thing
that our troubles all disappear in the
course of time-eXcept old age, and
that will follow at the end of the
journey.
The Rural New Yorker, a most val
liable paper, editorially tells of man
who was hard drinker of intoxicat-
ing liquors but was induced to quit
drinking and take to eating apples.
He gave up the cup and ate five large
apples each day and in course of time
he lost all desire for such drinks and
is cured man. Now it is well known
that apples often save doctors bills
and save still more by driving out pat
ent medicines and pills, but they had
not been recommended as temperance
reformers but it seems that such they
are The Western Fruit-Grower relates
as a fact that at the recent meeting
of the State Horticultural Society in
Columbia, Missouri, the saloons COM
planned that though there were many
strangers in the city only one of them
was known to go into a saloon and
take a drink. The wonder was who
that man was. Among the fruit grow
ers who meet in the Northwest there
are very few red noses, the painting
of which have cost hundreds of dol
lars. Fruit growers raise app'es for
revenue but it is a fortunate thing
if there are moral results growing out
of the business.
1t is a we'll settled fact that the
use of Bordeaux mixture in an orch
ard helps the foliage and thereby helps
IN the color of the fruit. But from
recent experiments carried on in the
state of New York it would appear
that the quality of the fruit is i'm
proved by spraying with this COM
pound On very high authority it is
shown that in sections of that state
where the Baldwin apple was insipid
and nearly tasteless a few years ago,
the quality has been so improved by
spraying with Bordeaux mixture that
now they rank with the Northern Spy
in quality. A New York paper in
speaking of this improvement in quail
ty has this to say as to why this is
so: Naturally the credit for this i'm
provement is given to the Bordeaux
because it enabled the trees to hold
their foliage longer through the fall.
What connection can there be between
good foliage and quality? Everything!
The starch, sugar and similar foods are
all manufactured in the green leaves,
and there will he more or less of them
as the foliage is full or thin. Expert
ments have been made in Vermont
with sugar naples which clearly prove
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