The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1896-01-17
FAR N.sRS INSTITUTE,
An lhtcrcSslss. Session OF 's.lrce
DAYS, with Dircus>Eon OK E'ra"-
ttcal and a.nporta:l,
Subjects.

On account Of the c Did wave and h}lz
4 zard flags displayed, the attendance ~
the first meeting Of tho Farmers Insii-
tute Wednesday WAS rather light, how
until a fair sized audience was present
Prof -. MeLaren was the only person
present from the Agricultural College,
and as he is a stranger to Grant County,
the HERALD ADVANCE takes pleasure in
stating that he Is son of Central Kan
sas farmer and was reared on the homo
farm. He Is a graduate OF the State
University Of Kansas and has served
some time as Agrculturist and Director
OF the U s. Experiment Station Of Wy
oming, leaving that position in 1892 70 nc-
cept the position of associate editor OF
the An erican Agriculturst in New York
City. He lett that position to accept
the protessorsnlp Of Zoology in our
state Agricultural college last Septem
Der. Prof. McLaren opened his talk on
common farm pests with discussion Of
the general laws which govern the in
crease or decrease OF these small crea-
lures. Most kinds of hawks and owls
we're stated to be generally beneficial be-
cause OF their living on gophers and
mice Our account with the common
striped gopher was considered and the
balance found to be on the wrong side,
/ ~ l., ,,l -, ortlx H,ch
eating in lis tastes, has Teen found to
destroy great many injurious insects.
Reference was made here TO the invasti-
CATION of Prof J NJ Aldrich, Grant
county boy, formerly at Brookings but
now with the State University OF Idaho.
Prot Aldrich, while at Drookings made
an extended examination of the TODD
habits of the striped gopher and found
many cutworms and other insects in the
sfomachs which he examined. An ex
tended discussion was ELECTED here over
the best method Of destroying gophers.
Mr.. Mount recommended putting d
grain of strychnine in kernel Of corn
and leaving kernels thus prepared on
chips near the gopher holes. The object
OF putting the corn on a chip or stone is
10 remove it from the weakening IN
fuence Of the moisture Of the earth.
Sinking corn in a solution OF strychnino
and then scattering it about the field,
was suggested. MIR. Partridge had found
that in order TO get good results the
strychnine, which is sparingly soluble
in water, must first be dissolved in acetlc
acid His practice was to use wheat
rather than corn rs the smaller kernels
seemed to saturate better ard make
surer work This sh ould be used with
some care SO as not to kill the small
birds. Supt. Aldrich stated that he had
examined the contents Of badgers
stomach and found in it eight young
pocket gophers besides striped ones and
he thought the badger ought to be recog
nized as ar ally Of the farmer in tho
} matter of getting rid OF vermin. Prof.
McLaren suggested carbon bisulphate
as mems of killing gophers. This is
heavy, volatile liquid commercial form
OF which, good enough for this purpose,
! can be obtained at about a dollar gal
Ion. Old cloth or bit Of dry manure
can be saturated with this liquid and
: dropped into the gopher hole which is
then closed, and the heavy fumes Of the
liquid descend to the bottom OF the hole
and kill its inmates. AS the substance
is highly explosive and also about as
volatile as gasoline there is some risk Of
accident and loss
The discussion of insects was confined
mainly to cutworms
Following this topic was 10 have been
Prof. Hansens talk on "Irees tor shelter
and lumber but as he was not present
the subject was taken up tor general dis
cusslon. Supt. Aldrich advocated the
box elder as being the bsst tree for shell
ter, on account Of its habit Of growing
with many branches it makes fairly
good winter wind break. and and its
leafy canopy in the summer shades the
ground and prevents It's drying out.
The box elder lsaone Of the earliest trees
to leaf out in ,hs spring and also 10
harden up its new shoots and prepare
for winter. Mr.. Oehler thought that the
quack grass sod would kill out the box
elder before it would Ithe ash or elm.
Continued on page S.