The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-06-16

flowers and vegetab1es-in short, do harm in a hundred ways. In the lower Humboldt Valley in Nevada in 19O7-1908, they totally ruined 18.O0O. acres of alfalfa Trees and shrub bery are also attacked. and large nurs- cries lof young apple trees have been known to have been almost wholly destroyed by. the mice cutting through the bark at the surface of the ground.
 Pine mice ordinarily live in the woods and are not, therefore found on the open plains, though they like land that is frequently cultivated. They tun- neI their way from fence rows, hedges dna woods into gardens and cultivated 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 revealed until the tree is dead.
 When the mice, both meadow and pine, are in small numbers, trapping is probably the easiest method of get ting rid of them.
 From twelve to twenty traps to an acre may often be set with advantage in the mouse runs, where the mice are abundant or the area large, pois- oning is a, quicker, way of evternaina,- tion. The following formula is recom- mended in Farmers Bulletin of the U. s. Departne ent of Agriculture
 Dry grain formula: Mix thoroughly ounce powdered strychnine (alkal- oid), 1 ounce powdered bicarbonate of soda, and 1-8 ounce Cor 1ess) of saccharine. Put the mixture in a tin pepper box and sift it gradually over 50 pounds of crushed wheat or 40 pounds of crushed oats in a metal tub mixing the grain constantly so that tn poison will be evenly distributed.
 Dry mixing, as above desrfbed, Gas
 
 kept any length of time without fer mentation. If it is desired to nnoisten the grain to facilitate thorough mix ing, it would be we'll to use a thin starch paste Gas described below. but without strychnine) before applying the poison. The starch soon /hardens and fermentation is not likely to fol- low. '
 If crushed oats or wheat cannot be obtained whole oats may be used, used, but they should be of good quail ty, as mice hull the oats before eating them, it is desirable to pentrate the kernels. A very thin starch paste is recommended as Q, medium for apply ing poison to the grain Prepare as fol- lows:
 Wet grain formula: Dissolve ounce of strychnia su1phate in two quarts of boiling water Dissolve two teaspo oon- full of laundry starch in 1-2 pint of COIO water AQd the SLaLCh to the strychnine solution and boil for a. few
 minutes until the starch is clear. A little saccharine may be added if de- sired, but is not essential. Pour the hot starch over one bushe1I of oats in a metal tub and stir thoroughly. Lte the grain stand over night to absorb the poison.
 The poisoned grain prepared by either of the above formulas is to be distributed over the infested area, not more dhan a teasp poonful at place, care being taken to put it in mouse runs and at the entrance of burrows. Small drain tiles, 1 1-2 inches in dia- meter have som metimes been used to advantage to hold poison grain, but old tin cans with edges bent nearly to- gether will serve the same purpose. Field mice may be driven away 1by thorough cultivation of fields and the elimination of fence rows. In the case of trees, clean tiIlage and the removal from the neighborhood of weeds and grass will prove an effective precau- ton.
 Finally, the farmer should remen- Der that there are many animals, birds and snakes around the farm which do little or harm and are most useful in keeping down the mum Der of field mice. Among these owls deserve special notice. Mice are the chief diet of both the short-eared and the barn owl. The common screech owl destroys English sparrows we'll as mice. It stays close to orchards and farm buildings and is. therefore, a use full assistant