Semi-weekly herald., 1909-02-22
MANY MILLIONS LOST
BY PESTS ON FARMS
tBy William e Curtis, Correspondent
Chicago Record-Herald)

WASHINGTON. Feb. lin the
message OF the president transmitting
report OF the national conservation
commission, which was sent 10 con
srsss last month. appears the astourn.
ing statement that "the losses to farm
products due TO injurious mammals is
estimated at $I30000.000 annually, and
the loss through insects is reckoned
at 1858, 100000 annually"
These statements are confirmed by
The secretary of agriculture and the.
scientists OF that department who naye
charge OF such matters II Is assert
ed that the prairie dogs in the stale
of Texas alone eat as much grass ev.
cry year as would feed n million and
n half of cattle. There are estimated
to be 400,000,000 prairie dogs in Texas,
an average of twenty-five to the acre
and 260 dogs VIII eat as much grass AZ
a ateer. Besides this. the value II
the land is very much injured by the
dogs. because they dig up the roots
Of the grass and destroy 1t. leaving
the ground perfectly bare around their
holes. Then, when they have cleane
out nll the vegetation In their neigh
borhood. they migrate to anothe" spot
and continue their work of destruction
The result is that entire townships Of
land have been made barren by their
ravages
Texas. Kansas. Colorado and other
western states have been working for
years to destroy the dogs by means of
poisoned wheat The Legislature of
Kansas has appropriated 100000 a
year for their destruction, and that
state is now practically free from the
pest The forest service of the agri.
cultural department proposes TO take
MP the work OF determination within
the forest reserves. and viii try to
encourage the neighboring ranchmen
TO assist them by demonstrating how
easily and economically the job can
be done. until the prairie dog, which
has no useful functions. has been driv.
en- out OF existence.
West of the Mississippi river, in the
states where grain is extensively cul
tivated ground squirrels are exceed
ingly destructive. and cause the loss
OF many millions OF dollars annually.
In California alone every year they
eat up about s2,O00,000 worth of wheat,
and II has recently been discovered
that their presence threatens dan
ger far greater than any pecuniary
loss, because they carry the germs OF
diseases. which can be communicated
TO human beings through the agency
OF fleas. The beechy ground squirrel
the only species thus far found TO be
plague infested, inhobits practical,
the whole OF the agricultural and fruit
lands of California from San Francisco
bay TO San Diego. and is most abund
ant In the foothills and coast ranges
In some localities there are thousands
of them, occupying underground bur
rows only few feet apart Secretary
Wilson says that II they were confined
to cultivated lands their extermina
tion would be comparatively easy, but
they are scattered over very large
area of wild land beyond reach. The
state of Washington Is troubled in q
similar manner and spends $4,000 a
year in fighting the pests.
In Nevada the agricultural sections
are being overrun with field mice Al.
though the destruction of crops by
them has never been so extensive as
In some parts of Europe, where they
have devastated whole provinces, it
is estimated that they destroy $780,.
600 worth of alfalfa every year. Sec.
retary Wilson says that In Humboldt
valley last year the mice destroyed
10000 acres out of total of 10000
acres OF alfalfa. so that the fields had
TO be replowed and replanted
During the past year" said Sec
retary Wilson. the biological survey
sent two assistants to Nevada for the
purpose OF making experiments and
showing the ranchmen how to destroy
the mice. After several trials 1t was
discovered that sulphate of strych
nine on chopped green alfalfa or al
falfa hay is the most effective poison
Even on ranches where the number o
field mice reached the astonishing TO
tai OF 10000 to the acre, they wer
exterminated by careful and systemat
ic poisoning at an average cost OF a
cents an acre. The combined effort
OF the farmers of Humboldt vale,
under the direction OF the agents o
the department were ultimately s,
successful that they killed at leas
10000 mice a day for several week
In succession, and the hawks, owl
and other birds and animals whicl
are appointed by nature 10 do tha
work were able to take care of the re
mainder and prevent further damage
"The rat continues to cause enof
nous losses throughout the entir,
United States" Secretary Wilson says
and during the past year an attemp
was made TO ascertain the approx