How TO Combat Rabbits, etc. 327 



inches ben-ath the surface of soft ground. All washes or other openings 

 beneath the fence should be securely closed and the field should be in- 

 spected occasionally to see that no fresh openings have been made. If 

 such are found they may be closed immediately or a trap set in the open- 

 ing. One or two rabbits will usually do much damage to a garden or 

 young orchard in a single night. 



Farmers who live in the same section of land can economize by co- 

 operating in fencing their farms. Where there are four farmers in the 

 same section, each having 160 acres, they can reduce their rabbit-fence 

 expense by fencing the whole section on the outside, instead of fencing 

 each farm separately. The expense of fencing can be reduced further if the 

 people in the same locality will club together and purchase wire and posts 

 in carload lots. 



Tree protection: Individual tree protectors of woven wire, wood, 

 paper, straw, etc., are good to defend trees against cottontails, but these 

 do not protect the lower branches from jackrabbits. The writer has seen 

 many young fruit trees, the branches of which had been cut off above 

 the protectors by jackrabbits. 



One farmer in the San Pedro Valley states that he paints his young 

 fruit trees with nicotine oil and finds that the rabbits do not injure the 

 trees; while the rabbits destroyed trees in a nearby orchard which were 

 not protected. This, or any other oil or paint, should not be applied to 

 the foliage, or to very young and tender twigs, as it may kill them. Young 

 trees just set out may also be injured and even killed by a coating of 

 grease or thick paint, as this coat will close the pores in the bark. These 

 "paints" are not poisonous but are repellants. On>e tablespoonful of 

 nicotine extract — "Black leaf 40", to ^^ gallon of whitewash is also 

 effective as a repellant. 



The following formula is from one of the U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture Weekly Press Letters: 



Poisoned tree wash: "Dissolve 1 ounce of strychnine sulphate in 3 

 quarts of boiling water and add ^X pint of laundry starch, previously dis- 

 solved in 1 pint of cold, water. Boil this mixture until it becomes a clear 

 paste. Add 1 ounce of glycerin and stir thoroughly. When sufficiently 

 cool, apply to trunks of tre-s with a paint brush. Rabbits that gnaw the 

 bark will be killed before the tree is injured." 



Note: It is probable that >^ pint of molasses may be substituted for 

 1 oz. glycerin. 



This poisoned wash has proved highly satisfactory in the West and 

 promises to be one of the most popular methods of protecting trees from 

 rabbits. 



