394 State Horticultural Society. 



3. It gives light and pleasant exercise in the open air and offers 

 something than can be seen and enjoyed in return for the work. 



4. It gives safe companionship. 



5. It teaches many things about outdoor life that are worth much 

 more than those learned in the streets. 



6. It makes the child feel that he does something for the home, and 

 this is a great safeguard. 



7. It gives occupation and relieves much of the restlessness that is 

 so trying to the mother. 



8. It gives a feeling of ownership and control that strengthens 

 character. 



9. It will give flowers for the house all summer and fall. 



10. A flower garden is contagious. It appeals not only to its owner, 

 but to a wide circle of people. In looking at it, neighbors begin to realize 

 that their houses, their lawns, their walks, their doorways, their back 

 yards are all great gossips that tell tales to everv passerby, and, unlike 

 most gossips, they tell the truth. 



TREATING FRUIT TREES GIRDLED BY MICE. 



(Prof. A. T. El-win, Iowa Experiment Station.) 



During the recent cold period, when the ground was covered with 

 snow, many fruit trees were badly girdled by field mice. Such trees, if 

 left unattended, are very likely to die. The majority of them, however, 

 may be saved by covering the injured portion with earth. The growing 

 layer which lies just beneath the bark will form a new layer of bark if 

 it is kept moist by banking up with earth for 2 or 3 inches above the 

 girdled portion. The earth should be firmly tamped about the stem and 

 pains taken to see that it is not separated by the tree swaying in the 

 wind. 



Another effective method of treatment which is more trouble, but 

 surer, perhaps, is to wrap the wound with broad strips of cloth coated with 

 grafting wax. The wax is made, by boiling together : Four parts rosin, 

 two parts beeswax, one part tallow. 



To make this work effective, the wound should not be allowed to be- 

 come dried out, and no time should be lost in covering the girdled por- 

 tion. In cases where the injury has not been too severe, this treatment 

 may also prove effective in saving trees injured by rabbits. 



In this connection attention is called to the fact that trees mav be 



