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_  _  , 
cut.  and  that  something  is  usually  a  sharp 
saw.  but  not  a  double-bladed  saw.  This 
kind  of  tool  is  an  abomination  in  the  or¬ 
chard.  A  new  tool  which  removes  small 
limbs  with  a  sharp  chisel,  through  the 
impulse  of  a  double  handle  and  a  sharp 
rap.  has  distinct  advantages,  especially 
for  reaching  branches  where  a  saw  can¬ 
not  be  used.  Good  orchard  men  are  ex¬ 
tremely  careful  of  their  trees,  insisting 
that  their  primers  wear  overshoes,  or  at 
least  shoes  with  rubber  heels  and  soles, 
Fruit  trees  are  especially  brittle  in  Winter, 
and  are  easily  damaged  by  men  climbing 
around  in  them,  if  these  men  are  rough¬ 
shod.  It  is  often  said  that  March  is  the 
ideal  month  for  pruning,  but  in  com¬ 
mercial  orchards  the  work  is  done  any 
time  in  the  Winter  when  the  opportunity 
offers.  Growers  sometimes  say  that  there 
is  danger  in  cutting  limbs  when  the  .wood 
is  frozen.  The  real  danger  comes  from 
the  ease  with  which  limbs  and  branches 
are  broken  or  splintered  when  the  weath 
er  is  extremely  cold.  Although  bulletins 
have  been  written  to  prove  that  there  is 
no  real  necessity  for  painting  the  wounds, 
practically  all  good  orchard  men  insist 
rhat  this  work  must  be  done  if  the  wounds 
are  to  heal  over  properly  before  decay  sets 
in.  Without  question,  white  lead  paint 
and  linseed  oil  make  the  ideal  mixture  for 
dressing  these  wounds.  Other  materials 
can  be  used  on  ornamentals,  but  are  not 
safe  for  fruit  trees,  having  a  marked 
tendency  to  injure  the  cambium  layer. 
Dynamiting  fob  Fruit  Trees. — Some 
interesting  experiments  have  been  made 
in  different  places  to  determine  the  effect 
of  dynamite  when  planting  fruit  trees. 
The  results  seem  to  show  that  fruit  trees 
planted  in  dynamited  holes  make  better 
growth  the  first  year  than  those  planted 
in  holes  which  have  been  dug.  The  sec¬ 
ond  year  the  growth  is  about  the  same. 
The  third  year,  however,  the  dynamited 
trees  are  out-distanced,  and  this  condition 
holds  for  several  years  thereafter.  The 
non-dynamiter  seems  to  have  the  best  of 
the  argument  therefore,  in  soils  where 
digging  can  be  done  at  reasonable  cost. 
There  are  some  soils,  however,  where  dy¬ 
namiting  is  a  necessity  because  of  the  dif¬ 
ficulty  in  digging.  In  the  Arnold  Ar¬ 
boretum.  near  Boston,  where  great  num¬ 
bers  of  ornamental  trees  are  planted  an¬ 
nually,  dynamiting  has  proved  much  more 
economical  than  digging.  These  facts 
must  be  weighed  in  considering  the  prop¬ 
osition.  The  experiments  mentioned  sim¬ 
ply  show  that  dynamiting  is  not  of  value 
in  its  effect  on  the  trees  after  they  are 
planted,  but  quite  the  contrary. 
Fishing  Through  the  Ice. — Fishing 
through  'the  ice  is  a  favorite  sport  of 
many  country  people  in  New  England 
during  the  Winter  months.  It  is  a  sport 
that  is  indulged  in  on  rivers  and  lakes 
and  the  salt  water  channels.  On  some  of 
the  lakes  it  is  customary  to  put  up  little 
shacks  which  serve  as  shelters  from  the 
hard  winds.  Holes  are  cut  through  the 
ice  inside  the  shacks  so  that  the  fishing 
can  be  carried  on  in  comparative  comfort. 
Along  the  shore  it  is  more  common  to 
use  wind  shelters,  which  consist  of  strips 
of  canvas  attached  to  light  wooden 
frames.  There  is  a  river  flowing  into  the 
ocean  only  a  short  distance  from  my 
home  on  which  dozens  of  these  canvas 
windbreaks  may  be  counted  at  one  time, 
indicating  the  presence  of  quite  as  many 
fishermen.  The  tide  rises  and  falls  in 
this  river,  and  the  fishing  is  done  in  the 
main  channel.  It  is  the  festive  smelt  that 
is  usually  drawn  up  through  the  hole  in 
the  ice,  a  fish  that  is  unsurpassed  for  flavor 
in  the  Winter  season.  Many  of  the  fish¬ 
ermen  have  three  or  four  lines  in  opera¬ 
tion  at  the  same  time,  with  little  flags 
which  bob  up  when  the  bait  is  seized.  As 
a  rule  there  are  two  sets  of  hooks  to  each 
line,  a  device  called  a  spreader  being 
used  to  keep  them  apart.  When  the  fish 
are  biting  well  the  sport  becomes  exciting, 
but  when  they  are  slow  in  taking  the  bait 
the  hours  seem  a  long  time  in  passing, 
especially  if  the  mercury  is  around  the 
zero  mark.  See  Fig.  15,  page  73. 
The  Witch  Hazels. — I  am  surprised 
that  more  farmers  do  not  grow  the  witch 
hazels  in  their  gardens  and  around  the 
house.  There  is  no  little  satisfaction  in 
these  flowers,  which  come  in  early  Win¬ 
ter.  when  all  the  other  shrubs  are  bare 
and  apparently  lifeless.  Even  prettier 
than  the  common  witch  hazel  are  two 
new  species  from  Japan,  which  flower 
later  in  the  season,  sometimes  in  Febru¬ 
ary  and  again  in  March.  These  foreign 
witch  hazels  have  very  large  blossoms, 
which  make  a  most  delightful  appearance 
when  seen  against  a  background  of  snow. 
This  form  of  shrub  is  very  hardy  and 
seems  to  stand  adverse  conditions  unusu¬ 
ally  well,  so  that  it  is  likely  to  become 
common  in  gardens  as  the  years  go  by. 
E.  I.  FARRINGTON. 
Crop  in  Young  Orchard 
Wliat  should  I  plant  in  a  young  or 
chard  I  have  just  set  this  Fall  and 
plowed?  I  want  to  use  orchard  for  a 
chicken  run.  Would  Alfalfa  be  all  right: 
I  would  like  to  plant  something  to  keer 
weeds  down  and  will  not  take  strength 
away  from  the  young  trees,  and  at  the 
same  time  something  that  is  good  for 
chickens.  u.  r. 
Our  plan  would  be  to  make  a  light 
seeding  of  oats  with  Alfalfa  and  Alsike 
clover  mixed.  With  Alfalfa  alone  the 
chickens  would  tear  up  the  crop  and 
prevent  a  fair  stand,  unless  they  were 
kept  out  of  the  orchard  until  June  oi 
July. 
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Burpee’s  Annual 
The  Leading  American  Seed  Catalog 
Burpee's  Annual  is  the  catalog  that  tells 
the  plain  truth  about  The  Best  Seeds  That 
Grow.  It  describes  the  Burpee  Quality  Seeds. 
Burpee's  Annual  is  a  complete  guide  to 
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some  book  of  1  88  pages  with  more  than  a 
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