The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-10-18
State Works Years to Extermi-
nate Prairie Dog.
farmers Combining for General Fight
Against Grasshoppers, Cotton Boil
WeevlI and other Enemies Of
Crops-Bounty for Wolves.

Austin, Tex.-Texas' long fight to
get rid of the grass and ~crop-eating
prairie dog Is nearing a successful
finish, according to Ascher g. Smoot.
For the last eleven years poisoning
gangs have been going to and fro over
the p~rairies and farms of the state,
scattering death dealing wheat and
corn on the mounds that mark the IN
frances to the homes of the dogs,
The state government has lent ma
terial aid to the movement and big
ranchmen have spent thousands of dol
lars to further 1t. The anti-prairie-dog
law passed by the state legislature In
1906 provided for the determination of
the pests within five years, but the
magnitude Of the task made strict
compliance impossible, Mr.. Smoot
says. In fact, that provision of the
statutes which provided for civil suits
and judgments against any land owner
derelict in dog killing at the expira-
ton Of five years has been seldom In
voked, 30 general has been the &C
Enowledgment of the bigness Of the
Undertaking. Mr.. Smoot thinks that
he forthcoming winter will mark the
liter determination of the little brown
hrrower and that next spring VIII see
Texas free Of the dogs for the first
tme in her history.
Incidentally he says that most of the
dog killing outfit wner are prepar-
Ing to reorganize their forces and go
into the wolf-killing business after the
coming winters campaign. The wolf
scalp bounty bill, which provides a re-
ward of ten dollars for every lobo wolf
scalp turned over to the county au-
thorities and half as much for every
coyote scalp will become effective No
vember l next, and Mr.. Smoot thinks
that 1t will have the effect Of causing
a great slaughter of wolves. which
make ranching business a hazardous
Undertaking in the western and south
western parts of the state.
Fortunes have been made In the dog
killing business in Texas during the
last ten years, according to Mr.. Smoot.
The slaughter Of the little pests, who
peopled the plains In millions, devel-
oped into a fine art early In the war.
Each boss killer has his own methods
Of slaughter and works along his own
original lines.
some OF them mixed strychnine with
dough. Others favored corr as the
Dalt. Some employed the carbon
method, rolling chunks of burning car.
bon down in the holes to consume the
oxygen breathed by Mr.. Dog and the
members Of his large family. Some
used traps, some bullets. A few en-
ployed a combination of all methods.
But whatever the methods, the dog
Killers work by contracts and main
tain their own Individual outfits. The
outht consists of a chuck wagon for
hauling the bedding, cooking utensils,
groceries, etc, another for hauling the
poison and supplies and utensils used
In spreading the stuff and a force of
prisoners.
Having made his contract to clear a
stated area-ofttimes thousands of
acres-of dogs, the killer moves in
with his outfit and begins work. The
ground Is staked off for miles around
the stationary chuck wagon, and to
each member Of the gang Ia allotted
a certain area on which to spread
poison or distribute carbon to kill the
oogs' This ia usually all the ground
mat IAN be covered by one man in a
day.
On the second day a second round
is made and another dose Of poison
distributed. A third dose generally
gets every dog that will eat poison.
Then the outfit moves on to new ter
ritory.
s~harpshooters are left behind to
shoot such stray dogs as have escaped
tne poisoning gang. These usually
stay on the ground for about three
uays. A week later a second hunt is
neid on the carcass strewn ground for
M benefit Of any survivors. When