PROTECTION OF FRUIT TREES FROM RODENTS 



65 



grown or cornstalks fed. A good plan is to take the bundles of 

 stover as they come from the field, before feeding to the stock. Lay 

 the bundle on a low platform or broad, low box, and "square-off" the 

 butts with an ordinary "Lightning" hay knife. A solid block and a 

 broad-ax may be made to answer, but the hay knife is much better. 

 Next cut off a two-foot length of the lower ends of the stalks 

 in the same way. These 

 sections may be fed to 

 the stock either in a manger 

 or in the feed-lot, where the 

 blades will be cleanly and 

 neatly stripped off. After a 

 few dajrs' feeding several 

 hundreds or even thousands of 

 these uniform length stalks 

 may be rapidly gathered up 

 and tied in bales for future use. 

 Five or six stalks bound firmly 

 about the stem of a young tree, 

 with twine or short sections of 

 baling or broom wire, as 

 shown in the picture Fig. 13, 

 will constitute a protector that 

 will last not only for one sea. 

 son, but for several or as long, 

 usually, as the tree needs pro- 

 tection from rabbits. The 

 stalks readily yield as the stem 

 of the tree increases in size. 

 In case wire ties are used for 

 binding on the stalks, great 

 care should be exercised to 

 see that these are removed 

 from about the tree when the 

 stalks are taken off. If not 

 removed they will drop down 



about the collar of the tree and become covered with soil and 

 forgotten. Trees have been killed by wire girdling in this way. 



By mounding the bases of the trees slightly with fresh soil and 

 firming it well, a stalk-protected tree is quite secure from all rodent 

 enemies. 



Fig. 15. The short, wire cylinder. 



