HORTICULTURE 99 



rooted, and the lower tender stock is injured by freezing, the effect 

 is a weakened growth until a new root system has formed. 



Other Injuries. In remote sections deer browse the twigs of 

 fruit trees and break them down. Farm stock is frequently injuri- 

 ous in the same way. Reasonable precautions will prevent this. 

 Cattle are usually more injurious than hogs in the orchard. Wind 

 often causes much damage to trees heavily laden with fruit by shak- 

 ing it off and breaking the branches. The remedies are the use of 

 wind-breaks and the supporting of branches by stakes or by tying 

 one limb to another on the opposite side of the tree. Young trees 

 in exposed situations are often injured by being blown about. This 

 is particularly true in the case of trees that are newly set, especially 

 those that have been set out in autumn. During the spring when the 

 ground is soft the tree is easily loosened and killed. Autumn-set 

 trees should always be staked if they are large enough to catch the 

 wind. A pile of soil about a foot high around them will often pro- 

 tect them. In staking, the method of tying the tree so that it will 

 not be scraped by the stake is very important. It would be better 

 not to use stakes at all than not to secure the tree properly to them. 

 Certain birds are often very destructive to cherries, raspberries, and 

 similar fruits. As a rule the birds that commit these depredations 

 are very helpful in destroying large numbers of injurious insects, 

 and the toll they take in fruit is not more than they are justly en- 

 titled to. The "sap sucker" (Sphyrapicus varius), on the other 

 hand, often girdles the trunks and larger branches of our choicest 

 trees, and in this way does much injury. Yet the woodpeckers as a 

 class are exceedingly beneficial, and even the "sap sucker" destroys 

 great numbers of insects. Ruffled grouse sometimes eat the buds 

 of fruit trees in winter, but they rarely or never cause loss to the 

 farmer, since the quality of the fruit is improved by the process. 

 (U. S. E. S. B. 178.) 



Protection of Fruit Trees jrom Rodents. The soil or cinder 

 mound as a protection against tree injury by field mice is first de- 

 scribed, not only because it is quite effective in itself, but because it 

 is recommended in conjunction with various other mechanical pro- 

 tectors designed to prevent injury by the larger rodents. Mice 

 rarely injure trees except where grass, strawy manure, boards or 

 trash of some kind about the base of the tree provide a hiding place ; 

 they will not come out into the open to work, but choose to perform 

 their depredations under cover. 



In mounding fruit trees for protection from mice there are three 

 important points to observe: First, clear away the grass, trash or 

 mulch from the base of the tree for a foot or more in all directions. 

 Second, with the foot, or, better with a "post tamper," thoroughly 

 firm the surface of the soil about the base of the tree. This breaks 

 down and fills any runs or burrows that may be just below the sur- 

 face. Third, with a few shovelfuls of fresh soil or cinders form a 

 small mound (twelve or fourteen inches in diameter at the base 

 and from 4 to 6 inches high) about the stem of the tree, firming the 

 soil well. 



