THE ORCHARD.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 705, 4 September 1885, Page 11

THE ORCHARD.

I HARES AND FRUIT TREES. Many orchardist3 and others have been complaining this winter of the injury done to fruit trees and ornamental shrubs by hares and rabbits. Settlers in different parts of Waikato, and in Waitakerei and other dis--1 tricts, have, judging from the letters which

have appeared in the daily papers, been puzzled to know how to protect their trees from the unwelcome attentions of “ poor puss ” and her long-oared cousins. Ths ooljr effective remedy (except a fence of wire netting) is a very simple one. Mix some molted pork fat with Stockholm tar, and with a white-wash-brush smear some of the mixture on the butts of the trees requiring pro: action. Hares and rabbits have an aversion to the . fcaßte or smell of animal grease, and will avoid touching anything tainted with it; the tar . has the effect of preventing the washing off of the greaße by heavy rains, and is iu itself distasteful to the hares. In the case of large orchards of several acres in area it has been found sufficient, to keep away the rodents, to smear a belt of trees all round the plantation. Bullock’s blood applied to the trunks of tho trees has aleo been found efficacious. A piece of fresh bullock’s liver is tied firmly to a stick, and a man walks along the rows of trees giving each a daub or two with the liver as he passes, but it is thought the deterrent effect of the grease and tar mixture is more permanent because not so easily removed by rain. To protect each tree by surrounding it with a circle of gorse bushes, as sugaested by one correspondent, would be a laborious process, and of uncertain efficacy, and in the case of large orchards, containing perhaps a thousand trees, such a plan would be altogether out of the question. It is fortunate that it is only for a few weeks during the winter months that the rodents turn to the bark of trees for food. Unless a tree is completely girdled it will nob be killed by the knawing of the bark, except it be in a very debilitated condition. We have known apple trees, of which hares had gnawed the bark, leaving only a narrow strip connecting the upper part of the tree with the stump, and they were to all appearance little affected by the injury, and the bark soon formed again over the wounds. However,, the barking pro* cess must have a certain effect in retarding the growth of the trees, and the best available means should be adopted by fruit growers to protect their plantations from the visitations of hares and rabbits. A Waikato fruit-grower has painted hia trees with a mixture of lime and bullock’s blood, and the plan is said to have proved quite successful. The great thing is to use some animal substance in conjunction with something which will make it adhere to the tree for a considerable time. —New Zealand Farmer. CLOTH-COVERED HOT BEDS. £ A correspondent of the Fruit Becorder re” commends cloth in the place of glass as - a covering for hot beds. The cloth is prepared by painting it with linseed oil, sugar of lead and resin, and it is stated that thus treated it will last three years in careful hands. The American Cultivator also says that Western gardeners use thin unbleached cotton cloth, painted with boiled linseed oil, and find it cheaper than glass. Another writer recommends good unbleached muslin as better for the purpose mentioned than the cotton cloth, as it needs no preparation to make it transparent. ___________________