North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Erdman, James" <ErdmanJ@uwstout.edu>]

For many years, I thought that I was doing something wrong with my 
blueberries, as the bushes grew only moderately sized and never had berries.  
Then one winter they were completely covered with snow, so the deer and 
rabbits didn't prune them all winter, and finally they had lots of blossoms 
and berries.  When I saw birds eating the berries, I covered them with 
netting and finally harvested a crop.  My solution was to make a cage over 
the blueberries, 6 feet tall, 5 feet wide, and 24 feet long, for 7 bushes. An 
old screen door allows easy access.  I am now building a new similar cage for 
the half  dozen bushes that I planted last spring.  Mine is covered with 1 
inch chicken wire, which has a mesh measuring about 1 5/8 by 1 inch.  I have 
never noticed a bird getting into the cage, and I don't have a chipmunk 
problem around my place.
 
Jim, in Menomonie, WI

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