-3- 



was easier to set a new bed each year than to contend with the weeds and grasses 

 which come into the planting in the spring of the picking year. However, if we 

 start with weed free ground as a result of fumigation will it not be profitable and 

 practical to harvest more than one year at a very low cost? 



Finally, with fumigation it will be possible, with the same amount of labor, 

 to plant a much larger acreage. 



II I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 



A GOOD USE FOR OLD TIRES 



Some fruit growers encircle the trunks of young fruit trees with old tires. 

 The area inside the tires is filled with sand. This practice in addition to aiding 

 considerably in mouse control by suppressing grass growth, keeps the sand in place, 

 and helps prevent injury to trees during mowing. 



CLEAN TREE BASES 



Clean tree bases are of value in prevention of late summer and early fall 

 girdling by mice. Growers should make it a practice to clean the tree bases 

 prior to the harvest season particularly when there is considerable tall grass 

 around tree trunks. The writer has seen considerable late summer girdling in 

 peach orchards sown with a cover crop and in young apple orchards. 



Once harvest commences mouse control is forgotten until the fruit is in 

 storage. By this time considerable mouse injury may have occurred. 



PREVENTION OF DEER DAMAGE WITH FENCING 



In 1957, a Massachusetts fruit grower established a new planting of apple 

 trees. By the end of the summer there was not a tree in the new planting that 

 had not been Injured by browsing of deer. 



In the fall of 1957, this grower erected a 6 foot woven wire fence around the 

 area, since then no deer damage has occurred. However, tree growth was still far 

 from satisfactory in 1958 due to the previous damage. It is unfortunate but the 

 only sure prevention of deer damage in orchards located in areas having high deer 

 population is erection of a fence around the plantings. 



---W. J. Lord 



