156 



PREPARING FOR WINTER 



Fish oil % 



Concentrated lime-sulfur % 



Water % 



Mix the materials thoroughly, and paint the tree from the 

 ground well up on the scaffold branches. After each hea\y 

 snowfall pack down the snow about the tree trunks, so 

 that mice will not burrow beneath or rabbits work over the 



top of the snow to damage 

 the trunk or branches. 



If clippings are made 

 from the branches in late 

 fall and strewn on the 

 ground away from the trees, 

 mice and rabbits will often 

 feed on them without dis- 

 turbing the trees. 



The jack rabbit, a fa- 

 mous jumper, also able to 

 stand on its hind legs and 

 reach several feet in the air, 

 constitutes a real problem 

 in fruit sections where it is 

 found. Fencing has been 

 tried with only partial suc- 

 cess, and it is expensive. A 

 dog, gun, and restrictive 

 laws are better measures. 

 The same holds true of 

 deer, which have done very 

 great damage to young 

 orchards in some sections. 



Fig. 54. Trees grown in sod or under 

 a mulching sj'-stem are especially liable 

 to injury from mice. This tree was 

 girdled when the snow was on the 

 ground. The white cloth separates 

 the original trunk and the bridge 

 graft on the right. 



Trees not more than 

 three years of age may usually best be replaced, if girdled 

 completely by mice or rabbits. Older trees may be bridge 

 grafted (Fig. 5-i) with a considerable measure of success as 

 described in the chapter "Propagating Fruit Plants.'' Areas 



