MISCELLANEOUS INJURIES 



261 



to blow or bend, this may be the last straw needed to break a limb, 

 and thus waste years of growth. 



Windbreaks, if properly constructed, will help in such cases. So 

 far as the load of fruit is concerned, it may be lightened consider- 

 ably by judicious thinning, and may be further protected by proper 

 supports under each heavily laden limb. Common bean poles or 

 ordinary poles or boards will answer. One very good support is 

 made with a smooth base upon which si inches of the limb rest. 

 It is made on a swivel and will adjust itself to any angle, thereby 

 equalizing its weight, without either rubbing or breaking the bark. 

 The hanger, or socket, allows 

 for a wood stake to be inserted. 

 Growers who have used this prop 

 have been well satisfied with it. 

 Its cost is $10.00 per hundred. 



Injury by carelessness. Each 

 orchardist can undoubtedly call to 

 mind cases where by a little more 

 care, injury to the trees could 

 have been prevented. Perhaps 

 the injury was made at the time 

 of plowing the orchard, or when 

 harrowing by "barking" the tree 

 with the end of the whiffletree, 

 thereby inviting further injury by 

 disease. Perhaps it was in driv- 

 ing too close to the tree that the old high hames barked a limb or 

 broke it. In any such case the injury could have been prevented. 



Injury by animals. Cows, sheep, pigs, and other animals may 

 cause considerable injury to trees, either by consuming the young 

 growth or by destroying the bark and girdling the tree. Sheep are 

 particularly fond of chewing the tops of young branches, and pigs 

 are sometimes very destructive in girdling trees, especially when 

 there is a lack of ordinary food. 



Some owners advocate the pasturing of orchards by these ani- 

 mals, and certain particular orchard conditions may warrant such a 

 procedure, but unless the trees can be protected from injury, this 

 would seem to be more devastating than beneficial. 



\ metal head for props 



Oftentimes overloaded branches are broken 

 when ordinary tree props are used. By plac- 

 ing a metal head on each prop, similar to 

 that above, the difficulty will be obviated 



