SEASOHABIiE hints. 
TF«6rYl>enthewood 
the afternoon son. 
tlie trunks of theinjuiT 
may sometimes produce 7’^!°"®, as 
but during a succession o 
they do not seldom occur dun g « 
next month-pruning may be earned o ^ 
advantageously as at any time, 
the question is whether to prune now or not 
at all, we say, by all means prune now, 
vided the tree needs pruning, and you toow 
what to prune for. Without a definite object 
it is better not to prune at any time. 
Girdled Fruit Precs.-When there is much 
snow on the ground so that mice and rabbits 
are prevented from finding their necessary 
food they will as a last resource, gnaw the 
bark of young fniit trees wliich in conse¬ 
quence become more or less seriously injured. 
If only a small portion of bark has been 
destroyed, and the tree is otherwise in 
healthy condition, new bark will grow over 
the wound again in a season or two; but if 
a complete ring aU around the stem has been 
eaten off, the tree will surely die unless 
surgical aid is given. 
As soon as the injury is noticed, the wound 
should be covered thickly with soft clay or 
soil, and tied up firmly with matting or rags. 
In May—about grafting time—the bandage 
is to be removed, the wound cleaned, and 
four or five cions from the same tree—or an¬ 
other of the same kind—are to be inserted 
so as to unite the upper with the lower edge 
of the bark, exactly as in cleft grafting. If 
the operation is carefully performed not one 
tree in a hundred need die, and the wound 
will heal over completely in a few years. 
Mice may easily be prevented from gnaw¬ 
ing trees, by simply tramping the snow down 
a few feet around the stems. This has to be 
done after every snow-fall, of course, and as 
the mice are sometimes earlier at work than 
man, they do occasionally get the best part 
of the bargain. Banking or hilling soil around 
the stems is therefore safer. The mounds 
should be twelve to eighteen inches high, as 
steep as possible, and firmly packed all 
around. 
Wlien only a few trees are to be protected, 
tar-paper or any kind of cloth, or better still 
tin, may be tied around the stems as much 
below the surface as feasible without injur¬ 
ing the roots, and ten to twelve inches above. 
Where rabbits abound the.se bandages should 
be carried up at least two feet. 
Leaves are Natures manure, and, as in 
everj’thing so here, we can learn much from 
her by following her ways. The rich soil in 
fence comers, and othei- places sheltered 
from winds, is largely due to the leaves that 
have accumulated and decayed there during 
a sei-ics of years. 
There is liardly any more piofitable work 
during winter s when there is no snow in the 
woods, than to gather leaves. Where live¬ 
stock is kept unlimited quantities may bo 
utilized for bedding; otherwise they may 
serve an excellent purpose for mulching 
.Strawberries and other plants. They may 
also be strewn thickly along the rows of 
Raspberries, Blackberries and CuiT.ants if 
covered sufficiently with manure or soil’ to 
prevent their being blown away by the wind. 
A compost of leaves, stable manure and 
well known 
though perhaps is not fully 
as well as ^ees having round, 
comprehended. i.-fled by the branches 
Ebm:;^ndCur;ant bushes, is o«^^ 
the over-heating 
of tJ r The position of the trees is un- 
Itu^liS this that on accomj of^^^^^^^^^ 
noon Tn begins the heating of the sap^ the 
temperature is not raised to such a pRch as 
to occasion injury until sometime m the 
afternoon, hence it is commonly said that 
the afternoon sun occasions the injury. Bn 
protecting from the morning sun and from 
the first hour or two of afternoon sun would 
avoid the injury, as the balance of the after¬ 
noon sun would not be sufficient to heat the 
sap to the injuring point. 
It should be remembered that the cool 
night air, re-inforced by the falling dews, 
very materially reduces the temperature of 
the entire trunk, and several hours of sun 
are necessary to heat up the bark and then 
the sap. It would appear to be the wiser 
plan to guard against the sun during the 
earlier hours, though the contrary plan is 
generally adopted. This injury to the trunks 
of trees is greatest in the South, though not 
fully so great as the actual difference in 
temperature of the air would indicate; for 
the adaptability of those trees grown in the 
South to withstand greater heat, makes the 
damage to them less than would be inflicted 
by an equally high temperature upon trees 
in the North. 
This would indicate the fact that trees may 
become accustomed to their conditions—a 
truth. Trees grown so closely together that 
the trunk of each is shaded by the others, if 
subjected to the heating action of the sun, 
are much more injured than those which 
have been grown isolated and thus accus¬ 
tomed to this heat. This should be taken 
into account when trees grown closely to¬ 
gether in the nursery row are transplanted 
and greater care bo taken to protect the 
southern side of their trunks from the hot 
sun. .Such trees as the Cherry, Roach and 
Plum, and some varieties of the Apple, hav¬ 
ing bnght, smooth and compact hark, grown 
m nursery rows, are greatly injured by tran ! 
planting to positions so isolated th.i, their 
trunks are not shaded by the foliage of other 
trees; and if trained high the first^yoar after 
transplanting, will make no growth ■ h 
south and but little in the centril ll i 
protected from the sun. ‘ 
When wo see a tree dyi,,.' and !i • 
parent that the cause of thk d ‘ ^ 
burning of the b.ark 111 
bythesun,w, r t; ' 
.1... „„t i,„™ '■"» 
five '^>"’«'wse, or else ignore I a !• 
boalthy tree, and one sV.:::! 
and the nearest perfect fru_ 
struggle against insect and other den” ‘I 
such a tree has a great advantage 
unthrifty .and abnormally developed “it 
sects and fungi will always attack 
healthful and vigorous part. 
In this connection I may state that • 
South, at least, it is very apparent 
proportion of unshaded Pear trees affl- 
with blight is four times that of tho*^"^*^ 
tected. Even in the North a majority 
orchard trees will be found, when not 
tected, with trunks flattened, and m 
less diseased on the southern side. Th’^ 
certainly due to the injui-y resulting f '* 
the heat of the sun, since the flatness b™"” 
always on the south side shows that th 
jury always comes from that direction V”i 
it is hard to conjecture any cause otherth"* 
the sun which would invariably pi-Qj 
from this point. A flattened (undeveloM 
on the flat side) trunk must lead to an und 
veloped top on that side; and thisfurthe^ 
increases the injury, for the trunk receives 
less and less shade from that side—the side 
But where it is most needed. And as the injon 
and disease progress, the more successful 
in their attacks will be insects and fungi 
which will always favor the diseased portion! 
The trunks may be protected by drivings 
wide board down on the south side, or by 
fastening it loosely to the trunk, enlargino 
the fasteners as the growth of the tree de¬ 
mands. Two boards nailed together at a 
slightly obtuse angle are better than one, and 
equal in effect too, while requiring fifty per 
cent less material than a box, often recom¬ 
mended. But 1 consider the best plan, with 
Apples and Peaches at least, to form low 
spreading tops, having just as little tnmkas 
possible. By this plan the Injurious effects 
of the hot sun are avoided; the effects of 
winds are lessened, and the diseases of the 
trunk and the work of enemies to this part 
of the tree are reduced by just so much. 
The best Peach and Apple trees I have ever 
seen had no bare trunk whatever, the limbs 
branching out at the surface of the gi’ound. 
Joirx M. Sr.utt. 
oped only can 
o'lo syminotr 
produce 
ically devol- 
•'bo highest yields 
A SERVICEABLE STORE-HOUSE. 
The great convenience and advantages of 
a good store-house for fruits and vegetable* 
are not as extensively known and appreci.ak 
as they should bo; and much disapi'oinh 
ment and loss are yearly sustained by 
that have no such building. It is notnccc* 
sary that such a structure should be an 
pensive one. Any farmer or gardcnoi 
c.an build .an ordinary shed can easily 
struct a store-house that will fully 
the pur])oso, and for the benefit of thos®'^^^^^ 
may wish to construct such a buildin?! 
no fruit grower or g.ardenor should b® 
out one,—will submit a simple phu*. •' ® 
cheap and durable. ,j;ii 
Any substantial out-building 
to hold the crops to bo stored, 
to servo the purpose. On the insii ®’ ‘ .jji,,, 
fifteen inches from the wall, build a P‘*^ 
of ])lank, raise this to the hight of 
or hotter still, to the loft, b''" ^ 
voning space with earth, which is 
ami is host, but straw, sawdust, 
loaves will do, only those will ha' 
frequently replaced. A good olos® ,,,4 
essential, over which stra'V^ 
shoulil 
I si)n 
liiokii®' 
'Through the middle of the. roou') 
nil 
illlii"b 
