20 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
October, 1916 
About This Time of the Year 
We all do it. Every one of us. 
We feel it is our duty to do it. 
We, the people who write for 
the papers, about this time every 
year, remind you, who grow 
fruit and flowers in Wisconsin, 
that there is a long winter ahead 
and that many even of our 
“hardy” plants must be given 
protection if we expect them to 
do their best next year: That 
many others will do better for 
a little covering although classed 
as “fully hardy” in the books 
and catalogs. 
In most cases plants require 
protection from winter sunshine 
rather than from winter cold. 
Two or three warm days in 
February with bright sunshine 
cause more damage to unpro- 
tected roses and raspberries than 
six weeks of below zero weather. 
We cannot expect to prevent any 
woody plants from freezing but 
in the case of the hybrid roses 
and other half hardy kinds we 
must protect them from sudden 
changes. 
So for the amateur and per- 
haps for some who claim the 
title professional the following 
suggestions for winter protection 
are offered, copied largely from 
the October 1915 paper. 
THE ORCHARD 
Don’t prune. Leave that job 
until March or April. Pruning 
leaves wounds and these not 
only will not heal until growth 
begins but the wood will check 
and the bark and underlying 
tissues die and thus prevent 
proper healing next spring. 
Protect young trees from at- 
tacks of rabbits and mice. Wrap 
the trunks with tarred paper or 
use veneer strips fastened with 
string or wire. If paper or veneer 
is used it should be removed next 
spring. Tarred paper will surely 
injure the trunks if left on during 
the summer and veneer harbors 
insects. 
For protection against mice 
mound earth around the trees 
to form a cone of six or eight 
inches. This is usually sufficient 
to turn mice. Tramping the 
snow around the trunks is some- 
times effectual. Mice rarely 
trouble trees in cultivated or- 
chards. Grass or weeds left 
around trees in the fall invari- 
ably attract mice. 
not spades or shovels. Take out 
a little earth from one side of the 
clump, shove a fork down close 
to the canes on the other side and 
push and pull until the clump 
lies flat. It can be done. A few 
roots may crack but there will 
be plenty left. Anchor the tips 
with earth and proceed to the 
next clump. Later cover with 
2 to 4 inches of earth. Some 
growers merely fasten the tips 
and depend on snow for cover- 
ing. Sometimes we have plenty 
of snow. 
This squatty little red brick dump. 72x192 ft. and 12 ft. from floor to eaves, would serve 
nicely as an “annex” for an exhibit of spray pumps but is not deserving the name of “Horti- 
cultural Hall.” The hall needed by horticulture at the State Fair is not like this; for one 
thing it is four times as large. 
BERRIES 
Except in the extreme south- 
ern part of the state raspberries 
and blackberries should be given 
winter protection in order to 
insure a full crop. Some market 
growers never cover berry plants 
and claim they get a satisfactory 
crop every year. Their claims 
are not usually well substantiat- 
ed. Crops from unprotected 
fields are often light and not 
infrequently the canes kill to the 
ground. It pays to give winter 
protection. To the novice it 
seems an impossibility to bend 
down and cover with earth a row 
of six-foot canes and yet it can 
be done. Use only heavy forks, 
GRAPES 
Prune and cover the same as 
raspberries. 
CURRANTS AND GOOSEBERRIES 
Require no winter protection. 
ROSES 
The rugosas, the yellow garden 
roses, Persian and Austrian yel- 
low, Scotch white and a few 
other hardy garden kinds require 
no winter protection, but the 
hybrids known variously as hy- 
brid perpetuals, hybrid teas, 
etc., and including such varieties 
as “Jack,” Paul Neyron, La 
France, etc., must be covered; 
