Mower County transcript., 1908-09-30
TAKING CARE OF. ORCHARDS.
Protect Your Fruit Trees from
Rodents This Winter. .

In protecting fruit trees from rab-
bits and other rodents, first clear
the vicinity of the base of the tree
of all rubbish. Then 1 remove some
Of the dirt from around the base Of
the tree After that I take strip
Of cloth 80 inches long and IL inches
wide and begin as low on the trunk
OF the tree as possible, wrapping the
trunk tightly with the cloth, drawing
it a little diagonally upward as I
wrap. If it is started right it will
inclose the trunk 18 or 20 inches high.
/ then fasten the strip and put back
the clean dirt around the trunk of the
tree. I have found this to be good
way to protect the tree from rabbits
and mice.
Wire screen will do as we'll or bet
| ter but it is more expensive. l have
! occasionally had rabbits bark trees
early in the fall, and have had large
per cent. of nursery stock and young
set trees ruined by mice in the early
! fall, even before frost, says writer in
| Farmers Review, but only in times
of drought, and that on land that was
trashy, weedy or grassy. I think they
| gnaw the bark for the moisture
they obtain in it, rather than for the
food.
I have never been annoyed by the
mice On clean nursery land, as no
rodent will tarry long where he has
no shelter The rodent naturally
i seeks shelter on weedy or grassy
land and will live on what he can find
in the vicinity. I have had trees that
We're newly set in the orchard and
which were mulched with manure,
barked six inches below the surface
of the mulching. So / believe that
man should either keep the land
clean or protect the trees from early
fall till late spring.
l. AS to the age at which trees afe
most likely to be attacked, find that
the younger the tree and the tenderer
the bark, the more likely is the tree
TO be attacked. If the bark of tree
remains tender, no tree, whatever Its
age, is immune from the attack OF
mice and other rodents, In orchards
where the ground was covered with
, rubbish, grass and weeds l have seen
trees II to IS years old ruined by
both rabbits and mice.
i Pear trees and apple trees are most
often attacked by rabbits and mice
Then come the peach and plum trees
, The bark on the latter trees becomes
rigid earlier than the bark on apple
and pear trees and that Is why the
plum and peach trees are not so Otter
, attacked.
, For protection, my neighbors have
used strips of cloth, wire screen, stub
BILE or cornstalks tied around thu
trunks of young trees. The latter il
protection against the rabbits, bu
think it is a harbor for the mice
The strip of cloth is as effective a:
!: anything 1 have tried and much thu
| cheaper. 1t is easily applied ant
costs about nothing, as any old cast
off clothes will furnish the material
| 1 know of no one using the liqui'
. wash here to protect the trees agains
i. rodents.
For the other enemies OF fruit tree
I use wash consisting of a prett,
strong solution of soap and water TO
both trunk and branch. I find tha
= this keeps the tree healthy and Wig
r orous, and induces strong growth.
E In climates or regions where dee
SHOWS fall and lie for long periods
the trees should be protected abov
y the snow, as in times when the sno'
stays for long periods is when tn
7 rabbits do the greatest damage.
= Thorough and clean cultivation fo
both the nursery and newly sc
orchard will always be worth tn
labor applied. Success is not possibl
in the orchard If careless methods al
followed, any more than if careles
methods are followed in other KIND