The Ladysmith news and Ingram news. [volume] (Ladysmith, Wis.) 1905-1906, 1905-04-29
Treating Fruit Trees GnaWed by Mice
or Rabbits


or Rabbits.
The winter of 10000 was fearfully
| cold and the snow deep. The food OF
the rabbits was scarce and they gnaw-
ed the bark from some of our young
apple trees. Six of them were badly
girdled in this way. To pull out the
young, thrifty trees would have been
quite loss. So l applied an effective
remedy, which is within the reach OF
all.
In spring as soon as the orchard
ground is dry enough, fill an old pail
three-fourths full with fresh cattle
droppings; with wooden paddle mix
up the manure in the pail, adding wa
ter to it as needed until it is OF the
consistency of mortar. Apply the pre-
pared paste to the eaten parts OF the
trees, putting it on as thick as it will
stick. It should be not less than an
inch thick. Now wrap all the parts
we'll with old cloths and tie with
strings. There is no danger of putting
too many cloths for they help retain
the moisture around the wounded
parts during the growing season.
Should the trunks be entirely
girdled, which checks the flow of sap,
cut scions of last years growth OF
wood long enough SO you can enter
them at least one inch under the bark
of the tree at the upper and lower
extremities of the wounded part. The
ends of the scions should be shaved
down so that they will wedge in snug
ly under the bark. According to the
size of the tree, fit from two to four
Of these on opposite sides of the trunk,
then cover the entire work with coat
of manure paste and wrap with rags.
If this has been properly done the sap
will circulate through the scions, and
in this way the tree will be saved. 1t
is said that this treatment is not like
ly to succeed with the plum and cher
ry tree, but it is fairly successful with
the pear and apple. l tried it with
one tree that was entirely girdled,
but was not successful for the top of
the tree died. A sprout grew little
way from the ground. / did not dis
turb this when saving off the tree.
and it made growth of some three
feet during the season.
If the trees are two inches or more
in diameter and the entire trunks are
girdled clear through the bark to the
hard wood Of the tree, it is best to
pull or grub them out and plant 9TH
ers. With the exception of the one
which was entirely girdled, all trees
that | treated in this way last spring
showed by their luxuriant growth that
they were doing as we'll as the young
trees which had not been damaged.
l know from experience that had the
wounded parts of the trees not been
covered the trees would have died.
had some difficulty in getting the ma
nure paste to stick to the trunk when
applying it with paddle, SO used my
hands.
Mice will not gnaw trees as deeply
as rabbits. Usually only the top~lay-
ers of the bark will be wounded, but
treatment is just as necessary as for
those damaged by rabbits. If some
should object to the manure paste
remedy let them try this: Take five
or six parts of resin and two parts
of beeswax. Melt this and while hot
add one part of tallow. Try a coat
Of this on a green stick, exposing five
minutes to the cold air. If it is too
hard and cracks easily, add a little
more talloW. With a sWab apply a.
coat of this wax over the wounded
parts. While applying, the wax should
be kept warm, but not too hot or it
will burn the wood or bark.-Fred
Strohschein, Winnebago Co., Wis, in
Farmers Review.