78 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



storiii^i for fodcier, so I mowed it and raked it around my trees, 

 which gave them a bountiful mulching. 



After d(jing tliat I became frightened for fear the sorrel might 

 contain too much acid for the good of the trees, so wrote to the 

 venerable S. L. Goodale, at that time Secretary of the Board of 

 Ao'iiculture, for his opinion. He answered chat I need have no 

 feais on account of the acid in the sorrel, but it would make a good 

 harbor for mice'nest winter and I had better rake it away in the 

 fall. Either from want of faith in Mr. Goodale's judgment or 

 lack of time I failed to rake the sorrel away from my trees. The 

 following winter there were more apple trees killed by mice in this 

 vicinity than any other winter since I commenced setting ray orchard. 

 A neighbor had thirty-five trees in the spring of 1872, the sorrel 

 year, near my orchard, and in the fall to protect them from mice had 

 hauled out well rotted manure and heaped it around the trunks of his 

 trees from 12 to 18 inches high. After there had been some thawing 

 weather the next spring, and a funnel-shaped hole had thawed around 

 thfe trunk of the trees, he came into my store one day and said that 

 the mic^ had'4;;irdled every one of his trees, and inquired about mine. 

 I had not been to my orchard since the fall, and you may imagine my 

 feelings when! I thought of the advice Mr. Goodale had given me. 

 I hastened to my orchard and went over it. The snow had thawed 

 around the body of most of the trees so I could see them to the 

 ground or nearly so, and I found no work of mice. 



After the snow was gone, I visited every tree and found, per- 

 haps, half a dozen that had been barked a little but not a single tree 

 materially injured. But the sorrel ! Imagine a nest of straw on 

 which a numl)er of pigs have lain a long time and you have a good 

 idea of the condition of that sorrel— thoroughly cut and fined up and 

 almost innumerable nests in it made by mice. I have every reason to 

 believe, and do believe, that the sorrel seed saved'a large proportion of 

 my three hundred and fifty beautiful young trees from destruction. 



After looking the situation over leisurely and thoroughly. I seated 

 myself on a bowlder to reason, and came to the following conclusions : 



Fir><t That mice never eat the bark of an apple tree from prefer- 

 ence but as a last resort to sustain life. 



Second. If there is grain or seed of any kind within their reach 

 sufficient to sustain life, they will never molest an apple tree. 



Third. That 1 had got to winter more or less mice each winter and 

 I could do it cheaper on grain than on apple tre<?s. I have seen no 



