552 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



COOPERATIOX WITH THE BUREAU OF ANUNIAL INDUSTRY. 



At the request of the Bureau of Animal Industry Professor Lantz 

 was detailed to make an inspection of some of the principal packing 

 houses in Chicag^o and St. Louis, with a view to the recounnendation 

 of measures for the suppression of the rat nuisance within them. 

 In the more modern-built establishments which are intended to be 

 rat proof comparatively little trouble is made b}^ the rodents, but in 

 the case of the older plants, the buildings of Avhich may cover several 

 acres of gi'ound and which were constructed without reference to the 

 invasion of rats, the loss is large. It was ascertained that in some 

 of the plants effective work was already being done with traps, and 

 that a substantial reduction in the number of rodents by this means 

 had been effected. Professor Lantz's recommendations include the 

 rat proofing of all buildings used by the packing companies, so far 

 as this can be done consistently with economy; the constant employ- 

 ment within the buildings of at least one skilled trapper; the use of 

 improved traps and certain particularly attractive baits; the elimina- 

 tion of all possible breeding places of rats within buildings and in 

 contiguous sheds and outbuildings; and the employment of poison 

 out of doors where it can be safel}^ used. 



INJURY TO TI:MBER BY WOODPECKERS. 



Woodpeckers are among our most useful birds, and it is difficult to 

 overestimate the value of their services in the preservation of forests 

 by their destruction of boring and other injurious insects. Three 

 species, however, known as sapsuckers, while eating man}^ insects, 

 more than offset the good they do by boring into the cambium or 

 inner layer of the bark of trees for the sake of the sap which exudes 

 from the wounds. These punctures permit the entrance of moisture, 

 bacteria, and fungi, which cause decay and staining of the wood. 

 '\^Tien the wounds heal, various distortions of the grain are produced, 

 including more or less open knotty checks. The stains render many 

 woods unsightly and lower their market value, and the checks, fre- 

 quently numerous and of large size, diminish its workability and 

 strength. The wood of many species is sometimes rendered useless 

 except for fuel. The loss to the timber industry of the United States, 

 due to defects in wood caused by sapsuckers, has been conservatively 

 estimated to be at least $1,250,000 annually. Much pains has been 

 taken to ascertain the principal kinds of trees attacked by these birds 

 and the manner and extent of the injuries inflicted in order to devise 

 protective measures, and a report covering every phase of the subject 

 is now being prepared. 



FOOD OF AVILD DUCKS. 



In many sections of the United States wild fowl, once so abundant, 

 are fast becoming scarce, and the time seems to be rapidly approach- 

 ing when they will no longer be available either for sport or for food. 

 This state of things is attracting wide attention, and among other 

 remedial measures the possibility of rearing wild ducks and geese in 

 preserves is being earnestly discussed. The question of food supply 



