232 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTUUAL SOCIETY. 



BABBIT IN.TTTBY. 



Often much damage is done by rabbits during the winter months. 

 This is especially true when the ground is covered with snow for some 

 time. With the first snow-fall of early winter, however, rabbits are liable 

 to begin gnawing the barlt from fruit trees and so long as this normal 

 food supply is covered with snow they are apt to feed on the tender bark 

 of young fruit trees. It is no unusual thing for a young orchard to be 

 entirely ruined in a few nights by rabbits girdling the trees following 

 the first snowfall. Special cars should be taken to see that .nil young 

 orchard trees are protected against rabbits before snow comes. And in 

 the newer parts of Nebraska where none of the legumes or grasses that 

 keep green late in the season are grown, it is well to have trees protected 

 even before heavy snow is expected as tlie rabbits will sometimes attack 

 the tree when the ground is bare on account of there being no green 

 vegetation in the community on which to feed. 



Different means of protecting the trees are employed. Killing the 

 rabbits or trapping as many as possible will of course help some. One 

 or two good dogs about a place when the orchard is near the house 

 will often keep the rabbits frightened away. As long as a healthy rabbit 

 is left in the community, however, the trees are in danger and in addition 

 to the suggestions above it is advisable to give each individual tree 

 protection. 



Good results are obtained by using wrappers of various kinds. In 

 the small home orchard four or five corn stalks set up with cords do 

 very well. This method is a cheap one. In Nebraska corn stalks are 

 always to be had and although more time is required to put them in 

 place than some of the patent protectors a small ojchard can be attended 

 to in a short time. Pieces of screen wire cut in strips six inches wide 

 by eighteen or twenty inches long and wrapped around the trunk and tied 

 also make good protectors. 



The patent wooden veneer wrappers which can be bought for $4 or 

 $5 per thousand are used quite extensively by commercial orchard ists. 

 These are soaked in warm water for a few hours when they can be 

 wrapped around the tree and tied with cord or wire. Some of them have 

 a coating of tar applied at one end which gives them more durability 

 when in contact with the moist earth. They will last about three years 

 and need not be taken off unless the tree needs more room for enlarge- 

 ment. If set two or three inches in the ground it is claimed that they 

 are a protection to some extent against borers. Trees subject to sun 

 scald are also said to escape when i)rotected with this kind of a wrapper 

 and that newly set trees will make better growth for a year or two when 

 protected against the hot sun and intense heat. 



Bandages of cheese cloth or other cheap cotton materials are often 

 used. The material is torn in strips two or three inches wide and 

 wrapped just as a bandage is wrapped around an injured limb. The last 

 end of the bandage may be split and tied around the tree to hold the 

 Avrapper in place. These bandages will usually last two years. 



