

J. S. HAKRIS. 



The calendar for Novetnber, published in the report of 1895 is 

 doubtless accessible to all of our members, and it is needless to add 

 very much to it exce{)t as reminder. 



The work in the orchard is, first, to see that the fences and gates 

 are in perfect repair, and that the gates cannot be carelesslj^ left 

 open to admit stock. Some kinds of pruning can safely be done in 

 autuinn, but browsing by stock and horn pruning has never yet 

 proved a satisfactory success. Remove dead and broken limbs, also 

 cut away all blighted twigs below where they are affected and burn 

 to prevent the spread of the disease, and if any trees are so badly 

 blighted that they will not likely recover they had best be removed 

 root and branch to make rootn for something better. All wounds 

 made on trees in pruning ought to be covered with pure white lead 

 paint or shellac varnish. 



Trees planted lastspringand others not large and well established, 

 should have earth banked up about the base, making a conical 

 mound about one foot in diameter and eight to twelve inches high. 

 It should be of clean, solid earth, free from sods and weeds, or it will 

 furnish a winter home for mice. The mound thus made serves the 

 double purpose of a support to the tree against the winds of winter, 

 and prevents mice from gnawing the bark from the trvmks. This 

 mound is to be leveled in the spring. Before placing this mound 

 it is well to make a careful search for borers, and if any are found, 

 dig them out or probe their borrow with a wire to destroy them. 

 We think it is also beneficial to apply a coat of lime whitewash 

 to the trunks and larger branches, to which a half ounce of carbolic 

 acid and a half pound of copperas is added to each two gallons of 

 the wash. 



Rabbits can and do work much harin in the j^oung orchard by 

 gnawing the bark from the trees, and here thej' often begin their 

 depredations quite early in the fall. The most effectual and, in the 

 end, cheapest safeguard is to fence them out arid keep the gates 

 closed. This is best done with chicken wire screen fencing, thirty 

 inches to three feet wide, with two inch meshes. This is tightly 

 stretched and stapled to posts set about sixteen feet apart, the lower 

 edge being close to the ground. Above this are put two or more 

 barbed wires to make the fence secure against stock, and Mr. Dartt, 

 of the Owatonna station, has discovered that by suspending another 

 wire above these and clear of the tops of the posts, it being fastened 



