REPORT ON PLAGUE OF FIELD-VOLES IN SCOTLAND 133 



voles. A similar view was expressed by the witnesses before 

 the committee of the " Teviotdale Farmers' Club " appointed 

 to inquire into the cause of the outbreak in 1876 ; but Sir 

 Walter Elliot states that much weight was not attached to 

 this " popular opinion . . . because no more hawks, owls, 

 weasels, etc., had been destroyed than usual." They had in 

 fact (to use Sir Walter Elliot's own words) " been well nigh 

 extirpated long before the outbreak took place." 



Effect upon the Pasture. 



Of the damage done to the hill pastures your Committee 

 had ocular demonstration during their visit to Howpasley 

 farm (3000 acres), and nothing short of personal inspection 

 could have given them an adequate idea of the extent of the 

 mischief. The voles had shown themselves there first in 

 what is called the " bog " land, i.e. strong marshy land either 

 grazed or cut for hay. Having devoured the grass there, 

 they spread to the " bent," " lea," or dry hill pasture, and to 

 the heather, which they destroyed as effectually as they had 

 done the grass. The stem of the grass is eaten close to the 

 ground where it is white and tender, leaving the blade above 

 withered and useless. Plantations are sometimes attacked, 

 the young trees being peeled and killed, but this has not been 

 the case so much during the present outbreak as in former 

 years. The arable land, so far, has not been much affected ; 

 but there is no doubt from the experience of Mr. Oliver, who 

 had three acres of corn damaged by them, that, if unchecked, 

 they might swarm upon the cultivated ground with disastrous 

 effect. Indeed, your Committee have information to the 

 effect that in some districts they have recently appeared in 

 numbers in the harvest-fields. 



In walking across the hill your Committee saw numbers 

 of voles darting about in every direction, and caught several 

 for examination. The grass, which, at the end of June, should 

 have been in full flush of verdure, was lying in withered wisps 

 over a large extent of the farm, and the heather, which is 

 valuable for winter feeding of the stock, had suffered to a 

 similar extent. 



