PROTECTING TREES FROM CATTLE, 



Sir, I do think there is some mistake in such an admission. As I observed, when 

 writing of the Kalmia, I believe that poisons are destructive, in more or less de- 

 gree, to all animals alike. If the honey secreted by the bee, from this source, be 

 so poisonous to man, why is it not poisonous to the bees themselves ? One would 

 think that, in the act of secretion, such poisonous material would be destructive 

 to the life of the bee ; unless, as I presume few people in this enlightened age 

 believe, the bee were to gather the honey, and place it in his "bag" as an apple 

 gatherer would put the fruit in his pouch. I may be " all wrong," but " that is 

 my impression." 



PROTECTING TREES FROM CATTLE. 



The beauty of individual specimens, as well as groups of trees, is often marred, 

 to a great extent, by the means employed to protect them from cattle. None of 

 these are more objectionable than the abomination termed a crate. Where such 

 heavy-looking and unsightly objects are thickly placed, as they often are, the 

 effect is disagreeable in the extreme, and as they 

 have to be endured for years, any substitute that 

 will afford equal protection without their objec- 

 tionable appearance, should be readily adopted. 



The accompanying sketch illustrates a contriv- 

 ance which combines both support and protection 

 from cattle, and is also neat in appearance. This 

 fence, by being entirely below the eye, is very 

 little seen, and the supports of the tree, being of 

 wire, are scarcely to be distinguished, except upon 

 close examination. If the whole were of iron, it 

 would, of course, be still less objectionable, on 

 the score of appearance. The uprights of the 

 fence, as given in the sketch, are supposed to be 

 stout piles, six in number, driven into the ground 

 at an angle of about 45°, at a sufficient distance 

 from the tree to prevent cattle from reaching the 

 stem or branches. The uprights should be about 

 three feet six inches out of the ground. They are 

 connected by rails placed horizontally, and suf- 

 ficiently close to prevent sheep from getting be- 

 tween them. From the tops of three or four of 

 these uprights, stout wires are fixed, the upper 



ends meeting at the tree, where they are attached to a collar, which should be 

 somewhat larger than the stem it is to surround ; the intervening space is then to 

 be filled with leaves, hay, or moss, and properly secured, to prevent damage to 

 the bark. These wire supports are, of course, only required when the tree is 

 newly planted : by employing them, stakes — which are rarely effective, and always 

 objectionable in appearance — are entirely dispensed with. 



^y- 



YoL. YII— April, 185T. 



13 



