Before dismissing the subject of stakes, let us understand their object and function: it is not to tie up the trees, and to force them to attain an erect posture; no, that is not to be effected by staking, as will be set forth in another place. Rather than tie a tree to a stake, it were better to cut it down to the ground, and grow it over again. The real objects of the stakes are, first, to show the planter where to set a tree; second, to show where the tree has been planted; third, to indicate to the plowman and to his horse where to exercise care in passing the infant tree during the first years' culture, for an intelligent animal will very soon learn what objects it is intended for him to avoid injuring during his labors in the field; a fourth function of the stake is to ward off the single-tree which the careless laborer may allow to strike the tree to its manifest injury, tearing the bark, and even breaking the stem. The passage of the wagon through the field will also be directed, by these stakes, to the interspaces, instead of passing over the trees. Here are reasons enough for the use of stakes, but tying the trees to them is not among the number; indeed, it might be called the abuse of the stakes rather than their use, except in rare cases. Even in the windy prairie country, no stakes should be used, as supports, in a properly regulated orchard. [Illustration: Fig. 25.--MANNER OF STAKING A TREE.] When necessary to support a tree with stakes, after an injury or accident, the plan of C. Rosenstiel, Freeport, Ill., is the best I have seen. He adopts it as a means of keeping his trees from being inclined by the wind. He drives a stake firmly into the ground, about a foot to the southwest of his tree; a band of rye straw is cast about the tree a few feet from the ground; the two ends are twisted and entwined together, forming a stiff rope from the tree to the stake, about which it is then cast, and the ends are secured with a piece of twine. By this appliance, the tree is maintained in an erect position without chafing; it can only yield to the wind by waving to the right or left; the band, by its tension, prevents it from leaving the stake, and, by its stiffness, holds it at a proper distance, and prevents its approach.