This section is from "The Horticulturist, And Journal Of Rural Art And Rural Taste", by P. Barry, A. J. Downing, J. Jay Smith, Peter B. Mead, F. W. Woodward, Henry T. Williams. Also available from Amazon: Horticulturist and Journal of Rural Art and Rural Taste.
The beauty of individual specimens, as well as groups of trees, is often marred, to a great extent, by the means employed to protect them from cattle. None of these are more objectionable than the abomination termed a crate. Where such heavy-looking and unsightly objects are thickly placed, as they often are, the effect is disagreeable in the extreme, and as they have to be endured for years, any substitute that will afford equal protection without their objectionable appearance, should be readily adopted.
The accompanying sketch illustrates a contrivance which combines both support and protection from cattle, and is also neat in appearance. This fence, by being entirely below the eye, is very little seen, and the supports of the tree, being of wire, are scarcely to be distinguished, except upon close examination. If the whole were of iron, it would, of course, be still less objectionable, on the score of appearance. The uprights of the fence, as given in the sketch, are supposed to be stout piles, six in number, driven into the ground at an angle of about 45°, at a sufficient distance from the tree to prevent cattle from reaching the stem or branches. The uprights should be about three feet six inches out of the ground. They are connected by rails placed horizontally, and sufficiently close to prevent sheep from getting between them. Prom the tops of three or four of these uprights, stout wires are fixed, the upper ends meeting at the tree, where they are attached to a collar, which should be somewhat larger than the stem it is to surround; the intervening space is then to be filled with leaves, hay, or moss, and properly secured, to prevent damage to the bark.
These wire supports are, of course, only required when the tree is newly planted: by employing them, stakes - which are rarely effective, and always objectionable in appearance - are entirely dispensed with.
 
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