The following are cheap and effectual. Mr. W. Brown, gardener at Merevale Hall, uses stakes about the thickness of the wrist, seven feet in length, and tolerably straight: he chops each a little flat on one side, gets some iron hooping a little thicker than coopers are in the habit of using for barrels; he punches holes through it six inches apart (with one near each end), nails it to the stakes on the chopped side, one foot from the top of them, and one foot from the bottom; then raises it and bends it circularly round the tree, observing that the hoops are placed inside nearest the tree; the holes left at each end of the hoop are then clenched up with a nail, and the guard is then complete. - Gard. Chron.

The following plan is somewhat similar: - "Procure stakes of ash or larch, six feet in length, or more if requisite, and about two inches in diameter, and bore holes through the tops and bottoms, about one foot from each end. Get a similar hole drilled up the centre of a stake, and saw it off in lengths of two inches, or rather less; pass a strong wire or thick tarred string through one stake, by the holes, at the top and at the bottom, then pass it through the hole made in one of the two inch pieces at each end, and then through another stake, separating each stake at top and bottom by a piece of wood, until you leave enough to surround the tree loosely, leaving plenty of space for growth. Place it round the tree, and fasten the ends of the wire or string. This guard is much the same as a cradle put round the neck of a blistered horse, to prevent his gnawing the irritated part. The stakes merely rest on the ground, and should be cut quite flat at the bottom, to prevent their sticking into the ground. At the upper end they should have a sharp slanting cut with a bill-hook, and threaded with the slope towards the tree.

The motion of the tree will not in any degree be impeded; and the bark cannot be injured, let the wind blow as it may, for the guard moves freely with the tree in every direction." - Gard. Chron.