I 62 



FRUIT PROTECTORS 



out support other than the leafage was only partial in protecting 

 the fruit, for the birds alight on the net, press it down by their 

 weight and peck the fruit, spoiling it wholesale. In such cases 

 we have had recourse to trapping, a couple of dozen traps properly 

 worked " making-end " of 500 birds in a season. 



FIG. 100. FOSTER'S FRUIT PROTECTOR. 

 (Supplied by Messrs. BOULTON & PAUL, Norwich.) 



To keep the netting from the fruit so that birds cannot peck it 

 various contrivances are had recourse to, such as stakes driven into 

 the ground and strong laths placed along the top of them. These are 

 cumbersome and not always readily obtainable. Foster's Fruit 

 Protector (Fig. 100) is very neat and made in sizes suitable for straw- 

 berries, currants and gooseberries, and raspberries, the two latter 

 admitting the fruit being gathered by persons under the netting. 

 The whole can be readily fixed and taken down, and is useful in 

 other ways when not required for protecting fruit. 



FIG. 101. PERMANENT METHOD OF WIRING IN FRUIT GARDENS. 

 (Supplied by Messrs. BOULTON & PAUL, Norwich.) 



For protecting buds and bloom from birds and frost .and fruit 

 whilst ripening, some proprietors of gardens indulge in what are 

 known as " fruit cages," either by means of hurdles or a simple 



