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JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ September 21, 1876. 



them carefully dressed with petroleum, which was applied to 

 the affected parts with a paint brash. Contact with the petro- 

 leum seemed to destroy the insects, and I was in hopes they 

 had entirely disappeared. This summer, however, there have 

 been signs of them again, but whenever the blight makes its 

 appearance an application of the brush dipped in petroleum 

 at once extinguishes it. The contact of the oil with the leaves 

 and fruit buds apparently does no injury, and I see that with 

 a little patience and perseverance my trees, which were in a 

 fair way for being ruined, can be preserved. — E. B. 



WOODEN FENCES FOR FRUIT TREES. 

 The construction of fences for enclosing small gardens has 

 not hitherto received that attention which it merits. The 

 primary object is of course to define the boundaries of the 

 garden, to exclude intruders, and in towns to obtain as much 

 privacy as may be. The more'important points of shelter and 

 warmth, bearing as they do moreuponTthe future than the 



posts and rails, and nailing some boards upon them — precisely 

 what is done in many instances. But it should not be for- 

 gotten that when trees are found to require the protection of 

 some such weather-screen as this its shelter should be as per- 

 fect as possible — there must be no cracks or openings to give 

 admission to the cold blasts of spring ; and yet I have seen 

 fences with Peaches and NectarineB trained upon them that 

 had a clear space of half an inch or more from top to bottom 

 between every two boards, which had evidently shrunk after 

 they were nailed upon the rails. It may be that in some 

 instances unseasoned timber has been used and there has been 

 a proportionate shrinkage, for all boards when thus fully ex- 

 posed are quite certain to contract with heat and expand with 

 cold in some degree ; so that the use of the very best seasoned 

 crown memel battens will only afford a modification of the evil 

 if the same faulty method of construction is followed. 



The plan which I have found to answer best is not to plough 

 a groove along the edges of the boards and tongue them together 

 with thin strips of deal, but to make a lap or shoulder along 



k a-fy ^ 



Fig. 82 



immediate present, are. apparently not much thought of, most 

 fences being deficient in this respect. " TV. W.," however, is 

 evidently fully alive to the value of fence surfaces for the cul- 

 ture of delicate fruits as well as for the Bhelter which a good 

 fence affords ; for in his letter of inquiry about their construc- 

 tion he not inaptly terms them wooden walls. I have seen 

 many of them, but never one that was not faulty in some 

 respect or other. It is therefore my purpose in replying to 

 our correspondent to explain fully the details of a really good 

 fruit-tree fence both as to its materials and construction. 



The most important points to secure are utility blended with 

 durability, and lightness so far as is compatible with strength 

 ■ — really a plain boarded surface without a single open joint 

 or fisBure, fastened securely upon a strong frame of timber. 

 This to the superficial observer would appear a very Bimple 

 matter — just the putting-up of a certain number of ordinary 



the edges, letting the boards overlap each other, and driving 

 the nails through both laps as shown at a, fig. 34, thus effec- 

 tually preventing any openings at the joints. Fig. 32 repre- 

 sents" a very strong boarded fence for fruit trees, designed to 

 meet the requirements of "W. W." and others requiring a 

 high fence or screen. The upright posts should be of oak and\ 

 6 inches square in the sawn part a, the rough part b being left 

 as large as possible. This part, being buried in the earth, will 

 soon decay if it is not previously dressed with some preserva- 

 tive. Steeping in tar is an excellent plan, but aB that may 

 prove a somewhat troublesome and nasty operation to many, 

 I may append the valuable receipt of a paint for this purpose 

 which Dr. Hogg gives us in his useful "Tear-Book :" — " Take 

 boiled linseed oil, and Btir-in pulverised charcoal to the con- 

 sistency of paint. Put a coat of this over the timber, and the 

 exclusion of damp will be perfect. Basswood posts have been 



