The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1895-03-21

1t must be acknowledged that the
farming industry in various sections
of the country is not tlourishing rs it
should. In many States farming no
longer pays and agriculture languishes.
Many reasons have beer assigned for
this. such as the development of the
country. the introduction Of new indus
tries. the improvements in t%ransporta-
tons and freight facilities and compe-
1ition of foreign countries. But above
and beyond all these causes, we be-
lieve. must be placed the conservatism
of the farmer. who fails to make use Of
the knowledge which the Department
of Agriculture deals out to him by the
carload. We acknowledge the receipt
from the Department of Agriculture of
a very valuable work Oh ~'Gophers.'
handsome uncut octave. 326 pages. il
Illustrated. from the able pen of Profess
scr {. Hart Merriam. Now. almost
every farmer knows something. in a
general way. about gophers. but no"
much it would tighten his farm labors
- "N NV buplNNN ~
Why be content to call Il gopher Il GO
pher when Il beneticent government
has hired Il dozen experts and expended
thousands of dollars to teach the farmer
lliat what he in his ignorance has called
Il gopher in reality is the geomys per.
sonatus fallaX: Professor Merriam has
prepared Il set of elaborate colorcd
maps and plates showing the conStruc-
ton of the skull of the geomyS. These
plates show the vomcr and mcSeth-
mold. the anterior palatine foIamen.
incisive foramcn. mcatus auditoriuS
intcrnus. ~tloccular fossa. upper part of
sphenoidal tiSSurc. alisphenoid. basioc-
cipital. basisphcnoid. condyle of eXocci-
pital. frontal. hamular process of ptery-
gold. interparietal, mesethmoid plate.
maXillo-turbinal. maXilla. nasal, naSo-
turbinal. lower part Of periotic capsule.
Ialatine. %prcmaXilla. presphcnoid.
pterygoid. Supraoccipital. squamosal.
tympanic bulla. vOmrine sheath of
niaXilla, and first cndoturbina. No
farmer who studies these plates care
fully can help but be Il better man.
But the body of the work is equally
valuable. In language so simple that
any farmer boy ought to understand it
the distinguishing marks and charac-
teristics of the gopher are pointed out
and classified. If the directions of
Prof. Merriam are followed it is very
easy to tell Il gopher from Il COW or Il
horse. The Professor explains how t.
Identify the gopher Enthusiastically. He
says: The single bones forming the
with the adjoining paired bones OF the
same segmentS. Thus the prcSphe-
mold is inseparably united with the or
bitoSphenoids; the basisphenoid with
the a~lisphenoidS and pterygOidS: the
basioccipital with the eXoccipitals. The
union of the lateral with the median
elements of the s%phenoidal segmentS
occur before birth: that of the occip-
ital segment later. The cXocipitalS
are always distinct in early life. but
soon become ankyloscd with the basioc-
cipital below and the unprecedented
above. The latter. except in Il few
species. is inscparable from the inter
parietal. The parietals in adult lie
"rr commonly ankylosed with the
SquamoSalS." We believe this ought
Ia prove entirely satisfactory. 40
farmer can consistently ask for more
gopher knowledge than is contained in
this treatise. IIenccfOrth if he cant
tell a gopher when he sees II ii will be
his w fault.