852 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



mentioned, which induced Dr. Goessmann to suspect that the fungus might be the effect and 

 not the cause of the disease. In applying the muriate of potash to a tree six or eight years 

 old, it should be spread over a circle sixteen feet in diameter, but kept away from the foot of 

 the trunk. He prefers applying the phosphate in the form of dissolved bone-black. 



Dr. Goessmann also states that sulphate of potash will not answer the purpose as a substi 

 tute in this disease, but muriate of potash should be used, and that it might be applied in a 

 mixture of salt and ashes. Professors Caldwell and Burrill are of the opinion that the yel 

 lows in peach trees are caused by bacteria, also that it is the same growth that produces blight 

 in pear trees, and the treatment of severe pruning or cutting away of the diseased branches 

 is to be recommended, the same as for pear blight. &quot;We would recommend to all fruit grow 

 ers in whose orchard the yellows makes its appearance, or as a preventive of it, a test of Dr. 

 Goessmann s experiment. When the disease has progressed so far that a renewal of vigor is 

 impossible, the tree should be cut down and immediately burned, both root and branch, if 

 possible, and no tree be set in the place occupied by the diseased one, at least, for several 

 years. 



Protecting Trees from Mice. Mice often prove very destructive to fruit trees, 

 especially young trees, since they gnaw the bark from the stem near the roots, sometimes 

 entirely girdling them. We have known of a large number of fine orchards being ruined by 

 this means. They usually work under the snow, making their nests in the grass and rubbish 

 that may be collected around the base of the trunk, especially if the trees stand in turf 

 ground. Sometimes they go from tree to tree on the top of the crust formed by the freezing 

 of the rain upon the top of the snow. Heaping up coal ashes or soil eight or twelve inches 

 high around the trunks of the trees, or packing the snow hard around the trees, will 

 sometimes prove effectual. Another very good plan is to make a mound of compact manure 

 a foot or more high around the trunks late in autumn. This should be packed very closely 

 around the trunk in order to secure the desired result. Straw, hay, or anything that would 

 serve as material from which mice could make their nests should be carefully avoided. 

 Soon after the snow is gone, the manure may be spread under the trees, and thus be made to 

 serve a double purpose of protection in winter and a fertilizer in summer. Pieces of old tin 

 fastened securely around the trees will also prove a complete protection; they should, however, 

 be pushed down into the soil an inch or two to prevent the mice from crawling underneath. 



Babbits are also apt to injure fruit trees, in the same manner as mice, except more 

 extensively. Encasing the trunks in old tin, or tarred pasteboard, serves as a good protection. 

 Other plans highly recommended are to rub the bark of the trees with fresh blood or liver, 

 or to kill a rabbit and to rub his flesh and blood over the trunks of the trees. This should 

 be repeated two or three times during the winter. Sulphur mixed rather thick with refuse 

 lard, and a half teacupful of kerosene added to each quart of the mixture, makes a good 

 application for the trunks of the trees^ one thorough application answering for a year or 

 more. A mixture of fresh lime (first slacking the lime in water), flour, and soft soap is 

 also highly recommended by those who have used it. 



Sheep and Cattle often injure fruit trees, the former by gnawing the bark and the 

 latter by browsing off the tender shoots, and rubbing against the trunks, thus loosening the 

 roots and breaking the stems and lower branches. Rubbing the trunks of the trees with 

 liver will prove effectual in preventing sheep and lambs from gnawing the bark. Fencing 

 around each tree will also serve as a protection, but it must either be made very close or be 

 so far from the trunks that the prematurely ripened fruit will fall within the enclosure, and 

 thus one of the great benefits of keeping sheep in orchards (that of eating this fruit and thus 

 destroying the larvae they contain]pwill be lost. Cattle do no possible good in an orchard, 

 but much injury, and should never be allowed there. 



