710 APPENDIX. 



*■ 



From these remarks, it will be perceived how important it is 

 in all exhausted soils to supply the necessary food to varieties 

 that have " run out" from the want of it, and how unwise we 

 believe it to be to reject such incomparable fruits as the New- 

 town pippin, and the Doyenne pear, because in certain local 

 districts, from causes easily explained, they have become feeble 

 and diseased. 



Note. — To jjreimit mice or rabbits from girdling trees. — 

 5reat injury is done to young orchards in some districts by the 

 neadow mouse. This little animal always works under cover, 

 and therefore does its mischief in winter when the snow lies 

 deeply upon the ground. A common and effectual mode of 

 deterring it is that of treading down the snow firmly about the 

 stem directly after every fall of snow. But this is a very trouble- 

 some affair. 



The following mixture will be found to be an effectual pre- 

 vention. Take one spadeful of hot slaked lime, one do. of clean 

 cows-dung, half do. of soot, one handful of flowers of sulphur, 

 mix the whole together with the addition of sufficient water to 

 bring it to the consistency of thick paint. At the approach of 

 winter paint the trunks of the trees sufficiently high to be be- 

 yond the reach of these vermin. Experience has proved that it 

 does no injury to the tree. A dry day should be chosen for its 

 application. 



English nurserymen are in the habit of protecting nurseries 

 of s?nall trees from the attacks of rabbits, simply by distributing 

 through the squares of the nursery coarse matches made by 

 dipping bunches of rags, or bits of tow, in melted sulphur, and 

 fastening these in split stakes a couple of feet high. The latter 

 are stuck into the ground, among the trees, at from 12 to 

 20 feet apart, and are said completely to answer the purpose. 



Note. — Wash for the trunks and branches of fruit trees. — 

 The best wash for the stems and branches of fruit trees is made 

 by dissolving two pounds of j)otash in two gallons of water. 

 This is applied with a brush at any season, but, perhaps, with 

 most effect in the spring. One, or, at most, two applications 

 will rid the stem of trees of the bark louse, and render it smooth 

 and glossy. It is far more efficacious than whitewash, as a 

 preservative against the attacks of insects, while it promotes the 

 ijrowth of the tree, ind adds to the natural lively colour of the 

 bark. 



The wash of soft soap is also a very good one for many pur- 

 poses. Though not equal for general purposes to the potash 

 wash, it is better for old trunks with thick and rigid baik, as a 

 portion of it remains upon the surface of the bark for some 

 time, and with the action of every rain is dissolved, and thus 



