LABELS. 



99 



the names, and the labels received with the trees being soon 

 lost, nothing more is thought of them till they begin to bear. 

 Curiosity is then excited to know the " new kinds." Con- 

 jecture is set on foot, and the greatest confusion follows. 

 Serious and innumerable mistakes are made and perpetuated 

 in this wav in all parts of the country. 



Permanent labels are therefore important and necessary. 

 The simplest is made of a slip of wood, three inches long 

 and half an inch wide, suspended to the branch by a loop 

 of wire, of which copper is best, fig. 59. The name will 

 last three or four years, if written with 

 a pencil on a very thin coat of fresh 

 white paint. Better and more durable 

 labels are made of small pieces of sheet- 

 zinc, written upon with a mixture of two 

 parts (by weight) of verdegris, two of 

 sal-ammoniac, one of lamp-black, and 

 thirty of water. The ingredients are to 

 be mixed in a mortar with a small por- 

 tion of water at first, and the whole added 

 afterwards. Preserve the mixture in a 

 well corked bottle, shaking it repeatedly at first, and keep 

 the cork downwards to prevent the escape of ammonia, and 

 it will remain fit for use for years. 



If the pieces of zinc are suspended by copper wire, it 

 should be firmly twisted round the zinc so as not to remain 

 loose (fig. 60,) or else the constant motion from wind, will 

 soon wear off the wire. The wire should be 

 nearly as large as a small knitting needle, to pre- 

 vent cracking off by long use. The loop should 

 be large, and pass round a side-shoot, instead of a 

 main branch to prevent the danger of cutting in 

 by the growth of the tree ; and should be attached 

 below a small fork, to prevent its blowing off the 

 end of the branch. 



The wire may be wholly dispensed Avith by the 

 following contrivance : cut the zinc into long 

 triangular strips, half an inch wide and six to ten 

 inches long. Draw the narrow or slender end 

 Fig. 60. round the twig, bring it through a hole punched 

 mid-way between the ends, and clinch or twist it with the 



Fig. 59. 



