The farmer and mechanic., 1915-10-19
willow, Wild cherry and other foraSt


trees
The injury to trees and shrubs con.
SlstS IN the destruction of the ha~.-
just ar the surface of the ground ana
in some instances for several inches
above or below. When tn girdline
complete and the cambiun entlreIr
eaten through, the action of sun ana
wind soon completes the destructis,,
Of the tree. If the injury is not
extensive. prompt covering OF thA
wounds will usually save the tree lo
any case of girdling heaping up fresh
soil about the trunk so cS to cover the
wounds and prevent evaporation Isl
| recommended as the simplest remedy
To save large and valuable trees brids,
grating may be employed.
Pine mice inhabit chiefly forestad
regions and are unknown on the open
| plains. Ordinarily they live in the
| woods, but are fond of old pastures or
| lands not frequently cultivated From
| woods, hedges, and fence rows they
| spread into gardens, lawns and fields
through their unde rground tunnels ar
| those of the garden mole. The tuu-
| tells of the pine mice are smaller than
| those of the mole. While the mola
| feeds almost wholly upon insects &nd
| earthworms, and seldom eats Vege-
| table substances, pine mice live upon
seeds, roots and leaves. Their harm
| full activities inclCde the destruction
of potatoes. sweet potatoes. bulbs.
| shrubbery and trees
They destroy many fruit trees. The
| mischief they do is not usually dis
covered until later, when harvest re-
veals the rif1ed potato hills or when
leaves or plants suddenly wither.
| While they differ little from meadow
mice in general food habits, their sur
roundings afford them larger pro-
portion of mast They are less pro-
life than meadow mice, but this IS
more than made up for in the fact
| that in their underground life they are
less exposed to their enemies among
| birds and mammals. Like meadow
mice, they sometimes become abnor-
| mal1y abundant.
In the eastern part of the United
States pine mice do more damage -
orchards than do meadow mice, part
1y because their work is undiscovered
until trees begin to die. The runs of
meadow mice under grass or leaves
are easily found and the injury they
do to trees is always visible. on the
other hand, depredations by pine mice
can be found only after digging about
the tree and exposing the trunk below
the surface. The roots of small trees
are often entirely eaten off by pine
mice, and pine trees as well as de-
? | cSl trees, WHeH young, arr
frequently killed by these animals
Methods of destroying field mice ~
. holding them in check by trappine
, and poisoning are equally apphcab
to meadow mice and pine mice
If mice are present in small mum
. bers, as is often the case in lawns
gardens, or seed beds. they may read
lily be caught in strong mouse traps
. of the guillotine type. These should
, be baited with oatmeal or other grain
. or may be set in the mouse runs with
out bait.
Trapping has special advantages fo
small areas where limited numbel
, OF mice are present, but it is als'
: adapted to large areas whenever it IL
I undesirable to lay out poison. 1t il
4 then necessary to use many traps an'
continue their use for several weeks
, l~1f mice are moderately abundant