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Show 'aaflaBBBBi twill 1 1 li !l I Fruit Trees and Mice. H Every winter in soma parts of the H country great losses aro experienced In tho orchards by tho ravages ot JH mice. It Id not unusual to tako up a 'H report from n stato ot tho United H States, or provlnco of Canada and And H numerous reports of tho great havoc H wrought by mlco. Wo noticed a whllo 1 ago a report from tho provlnco of On H tnrlo. Among tho reports wero these, H which wero characteristic: From H Qlcngary: "Thousands ot fruit trees H havo been ruined by mlco." From H Cnrleton: "01 fruit trees aro In flno M condition, but young orchards havo H been almost destroyed by field mice." H From Parry Sound: "Mlco wero very B dcBtructlvo last winter and did a lot J ot damago to young fruit trees." From H Dufforln : "Fruit trees were badly peel- H od by mlco during tho winter." Wo fl might repeat numerous othor roporto H of tno samo general character, no- H ports secured from various northern H states of tho Union frequently have n H Losses from mice always occur on H young trees, generally trees that aro ono or two years old. Thcso Httlo H creatures can do a very great amount of damago because It requires but a vory small damago to any ono trco to H kill it. Tho mlco slmpjy gnaw1 entire- B ly around a trco at tho snow line. JH Thoy aro nftor tho young bark to sat- H tsfy their hunger. Tho spaco gnawed may not bo moro than an Inch wide, but It means tho doom of tho tree. It H Is, no wonder then that a wholo orch- H ard Is Bomctlmcs wiped out In a sin- glo year by thcao young rodents. Thoy aro especially dangerous whero H Btrnw or corn stalks havo boon placed ' around trees, as this makes a hiding JH placo for tho mice. Corn stalks aro H frequently put around trocs to protect H thorn from Bun-scald in winter. Tho H trocs nro saved from this injury, but H Instead aro destroyed by the mlco. H Whero mice nro troublesome, tho best H way Is to destroy all their hiding JH places In tho orchards nnd adjoining H flolds. In tho west wo hn o few stono H walls to act as protectors of tho mlco, H and It Is caBlcr to prevent their rav- H ages than In tho eastern states whero H every farm orchard is protectod on H somo side by a stono wall. Whore tho H hiding places cannot bo destroyed, H some kind ot treo protector will have iVl to be" 'used. Oiio oi the bt-Mi'or tneae K Is a shield made of laths bound togeth- H er by wire. This is sunk nto tho aH ground around the tree before the Boll .l freezes hard in tbo fall. The wire O-H lath shield is Inexpensive, and any H mam.cun mako It. Thp .wires are aim- H ply crossed between each two laths, H nnd tho spaces botweon any two laths ,H must not bo largo enough to permit B tho rodents to cut through. Wo would flBVJ like to hear from our readers ns to their methods of protecting tholr HBVj orchards against mice. HBVJ Transpiration of Trees. flBV Tho transpiration of trees Is tbo process of tho tree taking tho water up by Its roots, passing It up through BV tho trunk and branches and Into tho Icnvcs,and evaporating It Into tho at- JH mosphere. Tho amount of water thus transpired by trees Is very grr t. flBV Even tho ordinary trco thus uses s v- H eral barrels ot water overy day. Thoro .jBBfl aro many problems connected with flHV this process that aro only bolng 9BV studied nnd bavot net been solved. BBV Ono ot thoso Is tho piwor ot trees to H resist drouth. It would naturally bo assumed that tho trco that uses tho H least water can stand drouth tho best. 'BBb The nctual tests of tho matter, how- H over, do not carry out this theory. BBfl Ono Russian experimenter found that HHfl whllo a maplo tree wua transpiring 289 pouuds of water, au ash tree, jVBl from tho samo surface, transpired 399 'H pounds, 110 pounds moro than tbo BBh other. This was approximately 30 por M cent. It is known, howovor, that ash 8Bl trees stand drouth far hotter than M maplcH. Qroves of ash trees and maple trees that came undor tho ob- M servatlon ot this Russian experiment- ur wero subjected to very nevero 9Al drouth conditions in the fall of 1902 and tho spring of 1903. Nearly all or flH tho maplos died, whllo tho ash trees H continued their existence nnd dovel- BB oped normally during the Bummer and H rail of 1903. This 1b of groat impor- Bfl tnnce to pcoplo living In tho semi- H nrld dlbtrlcts. For some roason tho Bfl treos using tho greater amount ot H water aro able to got that wntor from H groator dopths In tho soil, nnd aro H ablo to hold up tho cellular structure H of tho loaf with a less amount pf water H than others. Jamoa Gordon, Andorsou HH Co., Kan. jB |