Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1915-10-26

ment of Agriculture.)
Field mice, under certain conditions.
may become extraordinarily abundant,
and, as they are injurious to most
crops, methods for controlling them
are OF Importance. Unfortunately
most Of their natural enemies are be-
ing destroyed or driven away from the
farms, so that these mice are becom-
ing more and more of a serious pest.
Altogether there are some fifty spe-
cies of field mice known to exist In
the United States, but for the farmer
who Is concerned only with getting
rid OF them there are only two classes
meadow mice and pine mice. The
runs OF meadow mice are mainly on
| the surface of the ground, under grass
or some sheltering litter. These runs
lead to shallow burrows which serve
as winter homes. In summer the mice
use surface nests of dead grass. The
young may be brought forth in either.
Meadow mice destroy grass, cut
down grain, clover and alfalfa, eat
grain left standing in shocks, injure
flowers and vegetables-in short, do
harm in hundred ways. In the lower
humboldt valley in Nevada in 1907
1908 they totally ruined $4,000 acres of
alfalfa. Trees and shrubbery are also
attacked and large nurseries of young
apple trees have been known to have
been almost wholly destroyed by the
mice cutting through the bark at or be-
low the surface of the ground
When the mice completely girdle a
shrub or young tree and eat through !
the inner layer of the bark, the action |
of the sun and wind soon complete the |
destruction of the tree or shrub. If |
the injury is not too extensive, prompt |
covering of the wounds will usually :
save the tree. In any case of girdling. |
heaping up fresh soil about the trunk |
SO as to cover the wounds and prevent |
evaporation is recommended as the |
simplest remedy. To save large, valu- |
able trees. however, bridge grating is |
often resorted to.
Pine mice ordinarily live ins the |
woods and are not, therefore, found on |
the open plains. though they like land |
that is not frequently cultivated. They |
tunnel their way from fence rows, |
hedges and woods into gardens and cul- |
tivated fields, where they live on
seeds, roots and leaves. Like meadow |
mice, they also destroy fruit trees.
particularly In upland orchards. They |
attack the trees below the surface, SO
that their work is frequently not re-
vealed until the tree is dead.
Means of determination.
When the mice, both meadow and
pine. are in small numbers. trapping
is probably the easiest method of get
ting rid of them. From ~ to 20 traps
to an acre may often be set with ad-
vantage in the mouse runs Where
the mice are abundant or the areas
large, poisoning is a quicker means of
determination. The following formulas
are recommended in Farmers Bulletin
$40 of the United States department of
agriculture:
Dry Grain Formula.
Nix thoroughly one ounce powdered
strychnine (alkaloid). one ounce pow.
dered bicarbonate OF soda and one
eighth ounce Tor less) Of saccharine.
Put the mixture in a tin pepper box
and sift,it gradually over so pounds OF
crushed wheat or 40 pounds of crushed
oats IN a metal tub, mixing the grain
constantly so that the poison will be
evenly distributed
Dry mixing, as above described. has
the advantage that the gram may be
kept any length OF time without fer
mentation. II 1t is desired 10 moisten
the grain to facilitate thorough mixing.
1t would be well TO use thin starch
paste (as described below, but with
out strychnine) before applying the
urfaou The afaro aoon M r.lona ano