266 



THE VILLA GARDENER. 



149 



guards when they were first turned into the paddock. Tliey very soon proceeded to the 

 trees, examined the cradles round them, and made several attempts with their mouths. 

 Finding these unsuccessful, they made an attack with their horns; but, as the fence yielded 

 with every blow, and merely turned round, they made no progress that way. Thereupon 

 they began stamping with their feet, and, as Ave thought, from sheer vexation and disap- 

 pointment. Be this as it may, they were completely defeated, and my tree* have now 

 continued several years in perfect security, though these identical cows have remained 

 amongst them till this day. One man can fence in this way a great many trees in a day ; 

 and the cost of stakes, if purchased, would not exceed that of one of the postj necessary 

 upon the ordinary plan." (Gard. Mag., xiii., p. 167.) 



Fig. 149. shows, on a larger scale, the ground plan, or 

 rather horizontal section 1 ft. from the ground, and a 

 portion of the elevation of a tree so fenced. In this 

 figure the wire or string is shown passing through the 

 upright rods and horizontal short pieces, from c by d to e ; 

 but, from c by / to e, the wires are only shown passing 

 through the upright rods ; the short pieces being seen 

 in vertical profile, as they are in nature. 



ProtectiDg by Thorns.— The mode of protecting trees 

 from horned cattle which we consider next best to that 

 of Mr. Lawrence is, to clothe their stems with thorn 

 bushes, as shown infg. 150.; a mode very generally 

 adopted in the public parks 

 about the metropolis. The 

 branches are tied on with copper 

 wire, and are loosened or re- 

 newed every two or three years. 

 Protecting trees against Sheep. 

 A mode of protecting the stems 

 of trees somewhat similar to 

 tliat of Mr. Lawrence, and which 

 has been long practised in Scot- 

 land, consists in tying plasterer's 

 laths, set on end, and touching 

 each other at their edges, round 

 the trunks or stems; but this 

 mode is better adapted for pro- 

 tecting trees from sheep than 

 from homed cattle. Where 

 ^ sheep only are grazed, no mode 

 can be cheaper, or, after the 

 aths have been exposed to the air for a year, less conspicuous, 

 unless we were tp substitute for the laths, oak, birch, or willow 

 bark, with the epidermis outwards. Where laths or strips of 

 tliin boards are used, they, and also the string by wliich they 

 are tied on, might be rendered of great durability by being 

 previously Kyauised, or steeped in Margary's composition, which 

 is said to cost only one-tenth of Kyan's process, and to be 

 equally eflicacious both on wood and cordage. 



Fig. 151. shows the horizontal section, and eleVation of a tree 

 thus protected, in which a represents 

 the stem of the tree, b the wire 

 which ties on the laths, and c the 

 lower ends of the laths. Trees pro- 

 tected in this manner may be easily 

 named by nailing on the laths a 

 label with the name of the tree, and 

 the date of planting it, as shown in 

 fig- 152. 



d 



150 



152 



yuercus Cerris. 

 1860. 



