Milford chronicle., 1892-05-27
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" FLEA TIN AAf~
aS niebt Of IT. Good works This AMI
mai claims the Farmers' Protection.
The skunk IS in bad odor with the
world At large. and yet every farmers
bov knows the commercial value Of its
soft fur; a value of sufficient considera-
ton to have created special and remu-
nerative industry known as skunk
farming This industry consists IN
breeding these little animals for their
nslts alone. But these furry pelts, ac-
corlino 10 observant farmers, are OF
email importance compared with the
oood work wrought ON the farm by the
live animals. Here is what a Michigan
farmer had to say recently in The Rural
New Yorker on the subject;
Were potatoes so badly grub eaten
TWENTY-FIVE years ago as they are at the
present time? According to my memory
thew were not. Neither was bounty
offered on woodchucks in those days,
nor was there one rabbit where there are
ten now. In my opinion, if these were
not killed off with shotguns, hounds ana
ferrets. they would in five years become
about as great a pest in Michigan as they
are at present in Australia. Why? Be
cause their natural enemies are so few
The skunk is nearly exterminated for ms
fur-<ln lie there are literally no hawks
-. pinks, weasels, etc. ! remember
limiting twenty-five skunk tracks that
crossed the road one night after hglRr
Fan Of snow. "a going about half 91Inile
~ school. The skunk enters ths holes
If chucks and kills and the young,
and in his nocturnal wanderings fnds-
the nests Of young rabbits, destroys them
and also any amount Of bumblebee nests
for the honey.
The white grub is 1 think the worst of
all pests at present, and is increasing IN
sandy and loamy soils, and works on
nearly everything the farmer raises
Some wheat fields have been entirely
DESTROYED by the pests, but their worst
havoc is in potatoes, corn and all KINDS
of roots, strawberries, raspberries and
the grasses Out Of 500 bushels Of my
own potatoes last season at least one
third have been rendered unmarketable
on account Of the grubwor1ns, and
about the same proportion Of my corn,
and in 1890 five acres of corn were de-
stroyed by their eating off the roots,
hundreds of hills not reaching height
Of eighteen inches. By digging into
these hills could get from one to half
a dozen grubs to the hill. Besides, have
lost hundreds of raspberry and black
berry plants by their eating the bark
from the roots. The damage done by
these pests every year amounts to mil
lions Of dollars in Michigan alone, and
It has long been known that the skunk
Is the most common enemy of the nui-
sances by digging them out of the
ground during its nocturnal wander
fngs. Now are we to allow this little
animal-one Of the best of our friends
to become exterminated Just because he
happens to have some soft fur that the
ladies want to wear? Woodchucks are
terrible pests in all sandy or billy por-
tions Of the country. Even my hired
sost every boy know that
the skunk ought to live for the good no
can do in the above ways, and that he
ought to be protected by the imposition
of a five or ten dollar fine for the killing
of each one. The skunk goes into the
woodehuck hole or stays there through
the day, and goes forth in the night and
DESTROYS insect life. He works all night,
and is entirely harmless, except that he
will sometimes get chicken or two
from the shiftless farmer, but this loss
can be avoided.