52 BULLETIN 816, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
like the taste of the bark or tear it off for the sake of having some- 
thing to do. . 
Guards are of many forms (fig. 36), from stakes 24 inches square 
set 3 feet in the ground and extending 6 feet above, with heavy 
netting placed about the tree and stapled to the stake, to heavy 
wooden cribs of four stakes and intermediate slats and wrought- 
iron patterns of many forms. 
The trees should be firmly secured to the tops of the guards so 
that they will not swing against them in the wind and be rubbed. 
This is best done by securing the tree in place in the guard by two 
loops of pieces of old garden hose, soft leather, or rope, in such a 
way as not to bind the tree too tightly while keepimg it from swing- 
ing much or rubbing. The essentials are a firm support for the tree 
while young with reasonable protection of the trunk from careless 
depredations until the tree has reached a diameter of 6 inches or 
more. 3 
7 LATER CARE. 
If after planting, the season is dry and it becomes necessary to 
apply water, the ground should be soaked thoroughly, and as soon 
as it has dried sufficiently to work up loosely it should be hoed or 
raked to make a good earth mulch. A mulch of strawy manure or 
litter may be used in place of the earth mulch if desired. The 
watering should not require repeating for a week or more. 
If the weather becomes warm soon after planting and the trees 
come into leaf, wither, and droop, further pruning may save them. 
The reason for the difficulty is probably that the growth of the top 
has been greater than the newly formed roots can support; therefore 
the additional pruning is likely to restore the balance between the 
top growth and root growth. At least three-fourths of the remain- 
ing young wood should be removed. This may leave the tree looking 
almost like a bean pole, but if it induces a vigorous root growth 
the top can easily be re-formed. 
Young trees should have an annual inspection, and all crossing 
branches and any that are not well placed to form a good head 
should be removed. Attention should be given also to all forks, 
and where two branches start almost parallel to one another or at a 
small angle, making a fork liable to split apart as the tree grows, 
one branch should be removed. Where three branches start from 
almost the same point there is little likelihood of their splitting apart, 
but with only two growing at a less angle than 30° there is liable 
to be trouble in the case of most kinds of trees. On trees on which 
few but long shoots form, it may be well to remove the ends of such 
shoots. As a rule, it is undesirable to use for street planting trees 
with this kind of growth. Young trees should be trained into a 
desirable shape by the use of a pruning knife each year, so that a 
saw will not be necessary later. Some trees have a tendency to 
