PACKING, PRUNING, PROTECTION, ETC. 37 



constant motion from wind, will soon wear off the wire. The wire 

 should be nearly as large as a small knitting-needle, to prevent 

 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 with by the following con- 

 trivance : cut the zinc into long triangular strips, half an inch wide 

 and six to ten inches long. Draw the narrow or slender end round 

 the twig, bring it through a hole punched mid- way between the ends, 

 and clinch or twist it with the fingers or a small pair of pincers. 

 These labels may be punched by a tinman at a cheap rate. 



Sheet tin may be used instead of zinc, using a sharp awl to write 

 the name, and being particular to cut through the tin coating. 

 Oxidation soon renders the letters distinct. 



Protection. It often happens that young orchard trees are injured 

 by sheep and rabbits. A simple method for protection, is to take 

 three strips of common lath, set them up around the tree, and with 

 strong wire secure them one to another. If closely placed, they will 

 also serve to protect in a great measure from mice ; but for protec- 

 tion from the latter, strong "hardware paper" as it is termed, 

 secured around the tree by fine wire, and coated with coal tar 

 is best. 



The form of young trees most desirable to be obtained for planting, 

 are those so grown as to present a regular tapering form of stem 

 from the root to the terminal bud. This is only obtained by per- 

 mitting the side branches to grow, and be regularly shortened in in 

 the nursery, so that not only the stem but the whole tree presents 

 the form of a pyramid. One tree so grown, is worth more to the 

 planter, than ten grown with long slender stems of uniform size six 

 or seven feet high. A tree rightly (or as first described), grown, 

 will have double the quantity of roots, and when removed will need 

 no staking, while the latter will require staking four or five years, 

 and then never make a fine tree. 



