286 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Brackett: May I ask if anybody who has had experi- 

 ence in boxing apple trees would consider that the same rule 

 should apply to plum trees? 



Mr. Heideman: I do not consider it necessary. If you go 

 to work and box them up and fill with soil, it is the same as if 

 you plant them down lower in the ground. I- should think 

 that the protection of lath, which keeps the trunk shaded, would 

 be amply sufiicient. 



President Underwood: This matter was brought up last year 

 and also two years ago by Mr. Brand and Mr. Kinney. You 

 will find in the report that it is very highly recommended and 

 very fully described. You know the theory has been introduced 

 of slanting the trees somewhat, so that the rays of the sun 

 would not have so direct an effect on the body of the tree. I 

 think that is a good idea. I think that lath is a help, especi- 

 ally on a young tree. The boxing, no doubt, is good, but I 

 think none of them are perfect. 



Prof. Connelly, North Dakota: This question of protection 

 to trees is very interesting to me. We have gone over the 

 same ground a good many times in our state. The protection 

 has been given solely with the object of preventing the rays of 

 the sun from striking the trunk of the tree. I do not know 

 whether the boxing that has been spoken of here means pro- 

 tection from the rays of the sun or from rabbits, or what it is. 

 We have protected from the rays of the sun with wire screen- 

 ing, which makes a good protection also from the rabbits. It is 

 a very lasting thing and very simple to make. It admits the 

 air and forms a partial protection from the sun, excluding mice 

 and rabbits. This boxing is wholly new to me, and I would 

 like to hear it brought out more fully. 



President Underwood: Mr. Brand, will you tell Mr. Con- 

 nelly something about this boxing, as you have had a good 

 deal of experience in it. 



Mr. Brand: My idea for boxing trees was gathered from 

 the fact that there were several trees in our county banked 

 with earth when they were young trees, and then hay ropes made 

 and the tops wound with them, not so much with the idea of 

 protecting them from the cold as from the rabbits. That prac- 

 tice was continued for five years, and since that time — it is 

 twenty-seven or twenty-eight years now — those trees have only 

 had ordinary care. They have had no protection, whatever, 

 but they have proved to be the best trees in our part of the 

 state, the most productive trees. There has never been a year 



