THE CANADIAN HORTICULTRIST. 



Immense damage is yearly done in orchards by field mice, and they 

 increase so rapidly that all our vigilance cannot do more than keep 

 them in check. It is said that one female will sometimes rear three 

 litters of six or seven each in a single season. The hawk, the owd, the 

 skunk, and tlie eat are natural enemies of the mouse, and are conse- 

 quently friends of the fruit grower. The female cat is considered a 

 better mouser than the male, especially if she is milk-fed and has a 

 couple of kittens. Cats, therefore, should be encouraged by the 

 -orchardist, and every other means possible taken to route these de- 

 stroyers from his premises. Every pile of rubbish that can shelter 

 them should be destroyed ; the ground should be cleared along the 

 fences, where too often we see nothing but briars and alders ; old rails 

 should be stood on end instead of thrown in heaps, that no harbour be 

 given the mice, and that cats may seize them l)efore they are able to 

 hide. 



Traps may also be used with success in the fields. One plan is to 

 ■sink barrels about half way in the ground, and bore holes through the 

 staves at the surface, into which the mice will take refuge at night. 

 Another and a very simple trap is made by placing a roasted nut under 

 a large flat stone, which is supported by a small stick of wood. The 

 arrangement is such that as soon as the mouse begins his meal, the 

 stone comes down upon his back. 



In addition to these means of lessening the number of the enemy, 

 it will also l^e found necessary to protect the trees themselves against 

 his ravages. The usual metliod of protection against mice is to lieap 

 a mound of earth about each tree, and this has been found by the writer 

 to be at the same time very simple and very effective. One writer 

 ■recommends tarred bandages, but this would surely be more trouble- 

 some than the mounding process. 



Mr. D. W. Beadle, of St Catharines, has recommended .painting the 

 trunks of the trees with a mixture which is made as follows: — "Take 

 one spadeful of hot slacked lime, one of clean fresh cow-dung, one of 

 soot, and a handful of flower of sulphur. Mix the whole together with 

 sufficient water to reduce to the consistence of a thick paint. Apply 

 tnis on the exposed parts of the trees in dry weather in autumn." 

 This would surely be much cheaper and more expeditious than any 

 other method. 



In any case, to be forewarned sJwulcl he to be foreanned, and if 



