214 



THE APPLE CULTUBIST. 



Fig. T9. 



management of orchards is not to have any 

 trees girdled. But sometimes mice, sheep, 

 pestiferous goats, or rabbits, will gain access 

 to fruit-trees, and girdle the bodies in a few 

 minutes. A friend of mine in Central-New 

 York, who has several thousand fruit-trees, 

 had over one thousand young standard trees 

 completely girdled by mice during the latter 

 A stem of a tree that p ar t of March, while a deep snow was lying 

 by mice. O n the ground. Previous to that time the 



mice had never injured a tree. Some of the trees, which 

 were from one to two inches in diameter, pigj 8L 



were girdled over a space of six inches 

 above the surface of the ground. Such 

 casualties are of frequent occurrence. His 

 trees were all saved but sixty ; and those 

 would have survived if 

 they had not been sub- 

 mitted to a bungler. 

 The accompanying il- 

 lustration (Fig. 81) 

 will show how the 

 girdled portions were 

 bridged with pieces of 

 living branches taken 



gnawed by mice. frQm the tree _ topg . 



The main idea is to insert four or more 

 pieces of live branches in the stem of the 

 tree, with one end above the girdle, and 

 the other end below it, so as to maintain 

 the connection between roots and stem, 

 which has been cut off by the removal of 

 the bark. In many parts of the country A young tree four years 



*..,.. Al , ' after the girdle was 



field-mice are so numerous that, unless bridged. 



