786 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 4 
quality. The kernels are covered with a white 
skin, and are of strong resemblance to the English 
walnut. I saw several varieties of filberts loaded 
with nuts, also trees of pecan, Shellbark and butter¬ 
nuts. K. G. p. 
R. N.-Y.—A picture giving the natural size of the 
Extra Early Japan is shown at Fig. 331. The Killen 
was pictured last spring on page 238. 
MICE AND RABBITS AND FRUIT TREES. 
Is there any wash, harmless to the trees, that can be used on 
fruit trees, that will protect them from being girdled by mice 
and rabbits? r. h. l. .t. 
St. Paul, Minn. 
Bank the Trees Against Mice. 
As we have no rabbits to annoy us in the orchard, 
we have had no experience in fighting them. Several 
years since, we were annoyed by them in the nursery, 
and found the use of strychnine sprinkled upon slices 
of sweet apples and hung upon the lower branches of 
the trees entirely effective. If I remember correctly, 
we killed one dozen in a single night. Clean culture 
is a great aid in preventing damage from mice, but to 
be very secure, it is my custom to put a bank of earth 
against the outside rows of young orchard trees, 
which we level in the spring. If the orchard is free 
from weeds, their work, so far as my experience is 
concerned, is likely to be confined to the margin of 
the orchard. Working under the snow crust, they 
strike the bank of earth referred to, and abandon the 
tree. It seems to me that this is very simple and 
effective. s. d. willabd. 
New York. 
Lath and Good Cats, 
I have naturally been compelled to study this ques¬ 
tion, and I have found that strip laths, tied upon the 
trees, cut in lengths to reach from the ground 
to the lower limbs, when pressed firmly into 
the earth all around the trees, and tied with a 
tow string, will do the business in the cheapest 
and best way. An additional protection is 
found in daubing the trunks of the trees with 
pitch from pine trees. It acts well, as bunny is 
very careful of his coat. Good cats are useful 
assistants, as they catch the young rabbits. I 
have not, with these precautions, had a single 
tree injured for many years, t. h. hoskins. 
Vermont. 
Axle Grease and Lath Strips. 
To prevent rabbits and mice from girdling 
young apple trees, Mr. Harrison and some 
others use Diamond axle grease. I have not 
used it myself, but Mr. Harrison speaks very 
highly of it. To apply it easily and quickly, a 
piece of sheepskin, with wool about an inch 
long, is sewed over the thumb and palm of a 
mitten, the grease is pasted on this, and the 
tree is grasped at the collar and the hand drawn 
up to the limbs with a half twisting motion. 
This particular brand of axle grease contains, 
so Mr. Harrison says, very little oil, conse¬ 
quently, does not injure the trees in the least. 
Some orchardists wrap the trees with old news¬ 
papers, five or six thicknesses, and tie them on with 
twine. Others use cheap muslin dipped in water 
well scented with asafetida. Still others use plaster¬ 
ing laths cut in halves and woven together with No. 
20 wire, the same as lath and wire fence is woven. I 
have used this altogether for young trees. Five pieces 
of lath are required for each tree, and they have 
proved an efficient protection for three years, when 
the growth of the tree bursts them off. 
On my larger trees, I shall, this year, use a wash 
composed of lime (fresh slaked), sulphur, copperas and 
a little melted glue, just sufficient to make the wash 
adhere well. This I shall paste on pretty thickly, and 
I feel quite satisfied that no rabbit or mouse will 
tackle it. In a wooded locality, where rabbits are 
very bad, it is best to head the trees not less than 
three feet high, protect with woven lath, using six 
pieces, and then wash the lath, and the tree up to the 
head, with a thick lime and sulphur mixture. A six- 
lath protector will stand five or six years, and is 
about as cheap as one can use. They are woven about 
three inches from each end. fbed gbundy. 
Illinois. 
Earth Mound or Wire Strips. 
I doubt whether there is any wash or paste to be 
used for keeping the mice from girdling trees, that 
amounts to much, that is harmless to the bark of the 
tree. I do not like to daub up the bark of a tree with 
any paste or fluid which sticks to it, as it fills the 
pores of the bark. Keep all grass, weeds or mulch 
away for a space of three feet from the body of the 
tree. Throw up a small mound of earth against the 
body six or eight inches high, and tread well. Mice 
will not girdle the trees unless there is some shelter 
to crawl under when snow covers the ground. An¬ 
other good way is to use wire cloth woven of light 
wire and about 10 to 12 wires to the inch. Cut into 
strips 6 to 12 inches square according to the size of 
the tree. Bring this wire cloth around the tree, leav¬ 
ing the bottom end just under the earth, bring the 
top around and fasten with a fine wire, leaving a space 
of one-half inch between the wire and tree for the 
next season’s growth. The next fall, loosen up a 
little if required. This will be a perfect protection 
against mice, also against the insect which lays the 
egg for the borer which is so destructive to apple, 
quince and peach trees. These wire shields can be 
put on very rapidly, and the wire cloth is quite inex¬ 
pensive, thus making this protection from mice and 
the borer cost but very little. I do not believe that 
rabbits will girdle trees. They will bite off twigs 
and eat them when snow covers the ground, but we 
have never known of their girdling trees. Wood¬ 
chucks sometimes come out in February and March, 
and if their burrows are in an orchard, will scratch 
and gnaw the trees badly. Their work is usually 1% 
foot from the ground. If there are burrows in the 
orchard, fill them with stones in the fall. 
Connecticut. edwin hoyt 
Paper the Trees: Eat the Rabbits. 
I have tried most of the washes and pastes of which 
I have heard, but have found nothing that ex¬ 
actly fills the bill in the matter of preventing trees 
from being girdled by rabbits. There are several 
washes or pastes that will do the work for a short 
time, but they will not stay on the trees all winter. 
A paste composed of a pailful of soft soap, one pound 
of sulphur, and an ounce of carbolic acid is very 
effectual while it remains on the tree ; but with this, 
the trees have to be gone over two or three times dur¬ 
ing the winter. Common flour paste and asafetida, 
enough of the latter to make it smell good and loud, 
will keep off the rabbits till it washes off the tree. 
This is one of the best and cheapest pastes I have 
ever used. I am now using this paste, improved by 
adding Dendrolene, half and half. The Dendrolene 
will not wash off, and I think this will prove to be 
the perfect paste. Dendrolene and asafetida would 
keep off rabbits, but the Dendrolene,being a petroleum 
product, is very penetrating, and on young tender 
trees, it might injure the bark by checking its growth, 
unless it be carefully washed off in spring-time with 
some potash wash. Instead of using flour paste with 
the Dendrolene and asafetida, land plaster might be 
used, as it would do no injury to the tree, and rabbits 
would not care to nibble at it. 
The work of protecting trees must begin in October, 
as rabbits begin their ravages in the late fall, and 
often injure a good many trees before one is aware of 
it. I like the plan of wrapping trees with common 
newspapers as a protection against rabbits. A good 
brisk man will thus tie up 400 or 500 trees a day, and 
if the paper be put on carefully, it will last for two 
years. Another good plan is to eat the rabbits. By 
offering a bounty for each rabbit shot in the orchard, 
or employing a good hunter occasionally, if one is not 
an expert with the gun, he can clean out this pest so 
that there will be few left to do damage, w. w. s. 
Indiana. 
Whitewash with Soot. 
We have used various kinds of wash on about 7,000 
trees, and have not lost any by mice or rabbits, where 
both are plentiful. We always use common lime 
whitewash, sometimes mixing sulphur—one pint—and 
one pound of copperas to three gallons of whitewash. 
We are now using soot from furnace and stove pipes 
with whitewash, and all have prevented mice and 
rabbits from working on the trees if put on just 
before cold weather sets in. l. j. post. 
Michigan. 
Whitewash with Sulphur and Carbolic Acid. 
The best wash we have tried during the past 30 
years, to prevent damage from rabbits, is a fresh 
lime solution with enough flowers of sulphur to color 
it yellow. To a pailful of the wash, we add a table¬ 
spoonful of carbolic acid. If a dashing rain follow 
the application in fall, wash again. For mice, the 
best protection is a small mound of earth around the 
stem. I have never known field mice to mount this 
little mound to girdle the tree. j. l. budd. 
Iowa. 
WHITEWASH AS WINTER PROTECTION. 
WHY AND HOW IT IS USED. 
On page 684, we gave an account of the recent ex¬ 
periments with whitewashing trees for winter protec¬ 
tion, which were conducted at the Missouri Experi¬ 
ment Station. Some of our leading horticulturists 
had opinions regarding this matter, but few of them 
seemed to have given it personal trial. We have now 
obtained the complete facts from Prof. J. C. Whitten, 
who conducted the experiment. In referring to the 
criticisms given on page 692, Prof. Whitten says: 
I am glad to see that, In general, criticisms have favored the 
idea of whitening to reflect the heat and keep the buds dormant. 
However, I notice that two or three writers seem to have over¬ 
looked the keynote of the experiment, and look upon the whiten¬ 
ing as intended to “ keep out the cold ”, when its real object is, as 
you see, to keep out the heat. From our two winters’ experience, 
I believe that the experiment will prove to be of commercial value 
in those sections where intensely bright winter sunlight prevails, 
but have less faith in its eflicaey near large bodies of water 
where fluctuating temperatures are less marked, and where 
humidity and even fogs are likely to accompany the warm spells. 
A glance at the table of temperatures registered by white and 
dark-colored thermometers will show that, on cloudy 
days, the different colors have very little effect on the 
heat absorbed or reflected. 
It appears from his bulletin that a common 
lime whitewash was first used, but this was 
found to wash off badly during rainy weather. 
Finally, a whitewash of lime with one-fifth 
skim-milk added to the water, was found to be 
successful. About one pound of salt was, also, 
dissolved in each bucketful of the whitewash. 
Prof. Whitten says that it required from 5 to 10 
minutes to whitewash each tree, and that the 
cost does not exceed 10 cents per tree. The 
first whitening should be done early in winter, 
shortly before Christmas. The wash is sprayed 
through an ordinary Bordeaux nozzle. As often 
as the lime is washed off by rain, the whitening 
is repeated. Two sprayings to begin with are 
needed, just as wood needs two coats of paint. 
As a result of this whitewashing, we show at 
Fig. 333, two peach trees of the same variety ; 
the one at the right was kept constantly white 
during winter, the other was left to grow 
naturally. The photograph was taken on April 
13, and shows the difference in the blooming of 
the two trees. The first flower on the natural 
tree opened April 9, that on the whitened tree 
opened April 13, and both trees were in full 
bloom April 21. Fig. 332 shows the difference in the 
time of blooming of whitened and unwhitened buds. 
It will be seen that the unwhitened tree^has buds 
fully open, while the whitened tree has buds several 
days behind in opening. 
It is well to consider why this whitening is done. 
It is well known that peach buds may swell and grow 
while the ground is frozen, though the roots of the 
tree are inactive. One may bring the branch of a 
grape vine through the window into a warm room. 
There it will make considerable growth, while the 
vine outside will remain dormant in the frozen ground. 
Most of our readers have noticed that trees of various 
kinds cut down while frozen in winter, will often leaf 
out in the spring. These facts show that dormant 
buds may start into growth from the warmth they 
receive independent of root action. Every one knows 
that white is cooler than black. It is a common say¬ 
ing that “ A black hat draws the sun and is warmer 
than a white one ”. Put black muck on snow, and 
it will absorb enough heat from the sun to melt 
its way down through the snow. Nature recog¬ 
nizes this fact, and many plants growing in cold 
regions are supplied with dark purple coloring mat¬ 
ter which enables such plants to absorb heat, and 
grow at a low temperature. Purple-twig varieties are 
more easily stimulated into growth and bloom slightly 
earlier than varieties with green twigs which were 
originated in the same climate. The theory of whiten¬ 
ing peach trees is based upon these well-known facts. 
The object is not to keep out the cold, for the buds 
are safe in a moderate cold so long as they do not ex¬ 
pand. The idea is to prevent them from expanding 
during the warm, sunny days of winter and early 
spring. The white color prevents, to a certain ex¬ 
tent, the absorption of heat, and thus the buds remain 
