248 



Missouri Agricultural Report. 









tions may be fed to the stock either in a manger or in the feed lot, 

 where the blades will be cleanly and neatly stripped off. After a few 

 days' feeding, several hundreds or even thousands of these uniform 

 length stalks may be rapidly gathered up and tied in bales for future 



use. Five or six stalks 

 bound firmly about the stem 

 ■ of a young tree, with twine 

 or short sections of bailing 

 or broom wire, as shown in 

 the picture Fig. 13, will con- 

 stitute a protector that will 

 last not only for one season, 

 Init for several, or as long, 

 usually, as the tree needs 

 protection from rabbits. The 

 stalks readily yield as the 

 stem of the tree increases in 

 size. In case wire ties are 

 used for binding on the 

 stalks, great care should be 

 exercised to see that these 

 are removed from about the 

 tree when the stalks are 

 taken off. If not removed, 

 they will drop down about 

 the collar of the tree and be- 

 come covered with soil and 

 forgotten. Trees have been 

 killed by wire girdling in this 

 way. 



By mounding the bases of the trees slightly with fresh soil and 

 firming it well, a stalk-protected tree is quite secure from all rodent 

 enemies. 





.-4 



Fig. 15. The short, wire cylinder. 



COMBINATION WIRE CLOTH AND CORN STALKS. 



This form will appeal to the most exacting. The stalks protect the 

 stems from rabbits, while the 8-inch wire cloth cylinders, cut from the 

 same material in I'ig. 8, completely baffle the mice even in badly infested 

 orchards. The wire cylinders should be forced down two or three inches 

 in the ground. These cylinders are formed from sections of wire cloth 

 8x12 inches in size. Cost, about 1 cent each. 



