22 ‘Annuat Report. a 
And further, That they be requested to appoint a committee to report 1 
the exhibit. Be 
The motion was carried. . 
Motion was made and carried that the Secretary be instruc 
transmit the invitation in accordance with the above. a 
The report of Mr. Gideon on protection from rabbits, mice, be, 
was called for and read by the writer, as follows: oat 
THE PROTECTION OF FRUIT TREES AGAINST RABBITS, “MICE, IN: 
SECTS AND THE EXTREMES OF CLIMATE. “sk 
Rabbits. 
To prevent the depredation of the gray rabbit on trees, take the entrails of one 
and rub the trees as far up as the animal can reach, and no tree so treated will 
be molested inside of three or four months, but such application will only induce 
the white rabbit to greater destruction, so that to head off the latter you must 
trap or shoot them. Poison could be used to exterminate them, but I prefer to 
make a fry of them. 
Mice. 
But for mice I apply the poison. I take a small stick with a square end and 
insert it in the vial of strychnine, and pound it as fine as flour, and dust that over 
with a small bit of cornmeal. The process of setting baits is this: I put a dry 
chip or bit of board on the ground. On that I put a smaller piece, on which I put 
about a teaspoonful of dry corn meal, over which I dust the strychnine, and then 
to keep all dry I cover with box or old sap trough, and sometimes to attract, I 
put hay, straw, or corn meal over the box or trough, as it may be. Five or six 
baits so set are enough for an acre of orchard, unless grass and weeds are very 
thick, in which case more might be needed, and renewed twice a year is suffi- 
cient, say in August and November. Grapes that are covered with hay or straw 
needs one such bait under the covering of the vines to each teelis. 
Bark and Leaf Lice. 
And as to the bark and leaf lice that often infest fruit trees. I know of no 
remedy other than to leave them io the mercy of the ants, hornets, wasps, and 
yellow-jackets, and if undisturbed they will never fail of ultimate success, though 
some loss may accrue.before their ultimate triumph, yet their work is the cheapest, 
and only certain remedy I know of, having tried nearly a score of remedies, to 
no avail. 
Borers. 
The borer that does his work near the surface of the ground, can be destroyed 
at once by making a small mound of dry, unbleached ashes around the trees, and 
if higher up by a plaster of wet ashes or lime, and held in place by a bandage of 
cloth. I never cut or gouge the tree in search of them. 
