296 ^ ' State Horticultural Society. 



eats my trees, for I can keep the rabbits off — simple paper will do 

 that — but the mouse is underground, and will eat and girdle a 

 tree, and I don't know how to stop it. 



Col. Evans — Is not that trouble you show a disease? 



Mr. Bell — This is no disease ; it's a mouse. The tree is trying 

 to live in spite of the mouse. This mouse eats the little roots and 

 bites the big roots. It's the short-tailed mouse. I want the scien- 

 tific men to find a remedy. 



Mr. Love — A good coat of paint will keep the mice away. 



Mr. Bell — I want to kill the mouse, and need a wash, with 

 poison in it, to kill the mouse and not hurt the tree, but be sure 

 you're right before giving it out. I wrote to the tanglefoot man. 

 He wasn't sure it would not injure the tree; I heard of a man in 

 California who thought it killed his trees. Prof. Stedman recom- 

 mended me to try it, but am afraid it will kill the trees. 



President Dutcher — Whose tree do you want to try this on ? 



Mr. Bell — Try it on the trees at the Station. No matter if we 

 do kill a few trees there. That's their business. 



Mr. Flournoy — Keep the dirt back from the trees. The mice 

 like to make their home there above the wet. They don't like low 

 places. 



Mr. May — I would tell Mr. Bell to have two or three fox ter- 

 riers. They will kill the mice for him. 



Prof. Lazenby — The universal practice is to use coal ashes, 

 which seems to be a very good remedy. 



. . Mr. Horsfall — We use clean culture in the fall, leaving nothing 

 about the trees. Owls and hawks are good, too. Don't leave trash 

 in the orchard anywhere. The mice crave green food, and they 

 get it from our trees. 



Col. Evans — Mr. Bell asks how to kill those mice? Small bits 

 of sweet potatoes, dipped in poison and dropped in their runs every 

 little ways, will do it. There are other ways to drive away those 

 mice, but Mr. Bell wants to know how to kill them. There are no 

 mice where there is no grass or trash. A perfectly clean orchard 

 will have no mice. 



COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS. 



The Committee on Resolutions made a partial report at this 

 time. There was a resolution before this committee concerning 

 railroad rates, the spirit of which was very important, too much 



