The Canadian Horticulturist. 



83 



POINTS ON WINTER CARE OF THE ORCHARD. 



'"•^^^' -"^' ^HERE is too often a prevailing idea running riot among the average 

 fruit growers that as soon as the harvest is gathered and the 

 ground frozen the orchardist should have a long winter vacation. 

 It is an undisputed truism that most people enjoy vacations, but 

 the successful farmer, artizan or philosopher, must keep ever 

 before him the motto : " Forego the lesser pleasure for the better 

 good." Fruit growing, like every other industry, in order to secure the best 

 results, involves careful attention to the orchard in all the seasons. So the 

 winter problem in the orchard is a most interesting and important one. Tools 

 or utensils of any description should be carefully housed, brightened and sharp- 

 ened, ready for use. Time is never wasted in sharpening tools. Where drifts 

 of snow lodge in young orchards, there is great danger of attacks from mice and 

 rabbits. Manure should never be used as a mulch in the fall, as it serves as 

 winter quarters for mice, whose depredations may be stopped by placing bands 

 of zinc or strips of bark about the trunks, extending about two feet in height 

 above the ground. These can be removed and used again next season. Tramp- 

 ing about the trunk on the snow is also of use. For rabbits, painting the trunk 

 in fall with solution of one pound of bitter aloes to five gallons of water is useful ; 

 cheaper still, shoot the rabbits. Trees that are found badly girdled in spring, 

 that have been untreated, are often saved by using connective scions, connecting 

 the bark above the wound with that below. 



L 



Fig. 730. 

 Tkee Bridged with Scions. 



At the beginning of the New Year, while the merchant is taking an inven 

 tory of his stock, the farmer should be taking an inventory of his orchard trees 

 and plants, finding where trees need re-setting, pruning, grafting, etc ; construct- 

 ing a map of orchard, locating varieties and making changes, so as to be ready 

 to begin work systematically in the spring. If orchard land needs draining, a 

 map of the drains should be made, the surveys being taken during warm winter 

 days, and carefully drawn out for future reference. Another important point is 



