Miscrllancoits. 333 



FALL WORK IN TPIE ORCHARD. 



(By Prof. J. C. Whitlon, Horticulturist, Agricultural lL\[)criuH'nt Sta- 



tiou, Missouri State University.) 



(Written Expressly for The American Truck Farmer.) 



Attention to the orchard should n()t cease just because the season's 

 fruit crop has been gathered. Fruit trees of all kinds will bear watch- 

 ing. They need good management to enable them to do their best, aufl 

 this care should be given on time — before the trees begin to show signs 

 of suffering from lack of the requisite attention. It is easier and cheaper 

 to keep trees in good condition than it is to restore them once they have 

 gotten in bad condition from lack of good management. The young or- 

 chard, particularly, is subject to certain dangers that should be guarded 

 against. It is usually easy to prevent injur}- from these dangers; it 

 is usually difficult to cure the injuries once they have occurred. 



Rabbits. — With the first snowfall of early winter, rabbits are liable 

 to begin gnawing the bark from the fruit trees. As soon as the snow 

 covers the normal food supply of the rabljit he falls updu the tender baric 

 of young trees as the most available diet. It is no unusual thing for a 

 young orchard to be entirely ruined in a night or two by rabbits that be- 

 gin girdling the trees as soon as the ground is covered by the first snow- 

 fall. Young trees especially should be protected now, to prevent the pos- 

 sibility of such injury. There are many methods employed: 



Killing the ral)bits is one way of getting rid of their depredations. 

 Scores of them may be caught in traps and they may l)e destroyed by 

 other means. As long as a healthy rabbit is left in the vicinity of the 

 orchard, however, the trees are in danger. For this reason, in addition 

 to killing the rabbits it is advisable to protect the trees. 



Wrappers of various sorts are often put around the trees with good 

 results. The best kind of wrapper to be emi)loved depends upon local 

 conditions, the number of trees to be prcjtected, the price and availability 

 of labor, the amount of available cash that may be expended on the trees 

 aud the habit of the orchardist. Perhaps fiue screen wire is the best 

 wrapper if expense is disregarded. The screen wire may be purchased 

 iri 30-inch strips and the wrapper cut 18 inches high and long enough to 

 reach around the trunk of the tree and lap well, so as to give room for 

 expansion as the tree grows. Plenty of space sh'ould be left between 

 the trunk of the tree and the wrapper and the lower end of the wrapper 



