Labels 223 



lower part is not reduced, and it therefore lasts for many- 

 years and is strong enough to resist the shocks of cultivator 

 and whiffletrees. For ornamental bushes, this large label 

 is too conspicuous, and for this purpose a pine label 

 1}4 inches wide, 3^ inch thick, and 18 or 20 inches long is 

 excellent. The lower half is soaked in a strong solution of 

 sulfate of iron (copperas), and, after drying, in lime-water, 

 to preserve it. 



A great variety of labels has been recommended for 

 trees, but it is doubtful whether we have yet found the 

 ideal tally, although some of those here described seem 

 to satisfy most needs. Many persons like zinc labels (No. 

 11, Fig. 67), cut in narrow strips from a sheet of the 

 metal. The record is made on the zinc with a soft lead- 

 pencil, and the label is then wound about a branch. 

 Very often the record is indistinct on the zinc, but the 

 chief fault is the inconspicuousness of the label itself. It 

 requires much searching to find a zinc label in a large tree, 

 and this objection holds with almost every practicable 

 tree label that has been introduced, even with the 3- or 4- 

 ,inch pine labels that are common in the market. Patent 

 zinc and copper labels, cut from very thin metal, so that 

 the record can be made by the impression of a sharp point 

 or style, have been tried. These pretty and so-called 

 indestructible labels are furnished with an eyelet through 

 which the wire passes. They are soon broken by the wind, 

 and in a year nothing is likely to remain of them but a 

 hole hung on a wire. 



A good label is the device shown at No. 3, in the illus- 

 tration (Fig. 67). This is the pine "package label," 

 used by nurserymen, 6 inches long and IJ^ inches wide. 

 These are wired with stiff, heavy, galvanized wire, much 

 like that used for pail bales, and not less than 18 inches 



