426 ANNUAL KEPOETS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



RABIES. 



Sporadic outbreaks of rabies have continued to occur in a number 

 of the Western States, but have been kept under control by the 

 prompt concentration of skilled hunters to destroy infected preda- 

 tory animals and other carriers of the disease. 



RODENT PESTS. 



Investigations by the Biological Survey during a long period show 

 conclusively that many species of rodents occupying the territory 

 from the Great Plains west of the Mississippi River to the Pacific 

 coast are exceedingly destructive to the most nutritious forage 

 grasses and to crops. Through their excessive numbers they have 

 thus become very serious competitors of livestock on hundreds of 

 millions of acres as well as a heavy drain on the agricultural output. 

 Losses from rodent pests in orchards, vineyards, and truck farms of 

 the Eastern States are also reported to be severe by State officials and 

 by employees of the bureau. 



In 1916 it was estimated that the losses through rodents in the 

 Western States amounted to about $300,000,000, of which $150,000,- 

 000 was in the destruction of forage and the remainder in the dev- 

 astation of cultivated crops. This bureau, working in cooperation 

 with State and local agencies, has conducted campaigns against 

 these animals since that time and a large decrease 'n the losses has 

 resulted. 



These campaigns have been organized with a view to correlating 

 all Federal, State, and local agencies into an effective cooperative 

 force so that the work might be so systematically planned and con- 

 ducted as, one after another, to clear great areas of rodent pests. 

 This work has been backed by a remarkably sustained interest and 

 strong financial support on the part of farmers and stockmen, who 

 recognize the direct and definite benefits from it. The magnitude of 

 the results of the campaigns has been achieved largely through the 

 fine cooperation of the States Relations Service, now the Office of 

 Cooperative Extension Work, with the State extension organizations, 

 including the county agricultural agents, and State and county farm 

 bureaus. State departments of agriculture are taking an increasingly 

 large part in the undertaking through the establishment of pest dis- 

 tricts and enforcement of State laws which provide for the clearing 

 of rodent-infested lands on petition of the resident landowners. 

 Many other agricultural, horticultural, and livestock organizations 

 have also taken active part. Officials of the Forest Service, of the 

 Office of Indian Affairs, and of the Reclamation Service continued 

 to cooperate heartily in campaigns involving Federal lands under 

 their control. 



Where the strictly economic problems are involved with features 

 relating to community health, as in bubonic and pneumonic plague, 

 Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularaemia, and kindred diseases dis- 

 seminated by rodents, the bureau has continued to cooperate with 

 the United States Public Health Service of the Treasury Depart- 

 ment and with State, county, and municipal health organizations. 

 Such cooperation is essential to an effective and economical handling 

 of the work when such rodents as house rats and mice infest cities, 

 villages, and the rural sections. 



