74 FORESTRY 



milk of lime. Individual plants of rarer species, occurring 

 sparsely in a young wood, can have guards provided for them 

 consisting of rough branches. The felling of a few young 

 trees in thickets frequented by red-deer is found to assist in 

 checking the peeling of bark. 



Of the SMALLER INJURIOUS RODENTS, squirrels, mice, and 

 voles inflict most damage. 



The SQUIRREL is well known to eat and store away fruits 

 and seeds, and to bite off twigs for the sake of the buds on 

 which it feeds. It has also a partiality for birds' eggs and 

 young in the nest ; but its chief harmfulness, not so generally 

 acknowledged, is its habit of stripping the bark from trees. 

 In this last respect, Larch, Scots Pine, Spruce, and Birch, 

 about twenty years old, suffer severely. The attack, which 

 usually takes place in June, seems to be worse in hot summers 

 than in cool, wet ones. The squirrel removes the bark in 

 irregular strips, in broad rings, or spirals from the stem at 

 varying heights, but always in the crown of the tree. As a 

 result, the portion of stem above the wound generally dies or 

 is broken over by the first high wind. Very serious de- 

 struction has been done in this way in various parts of Britain. 



In defence, squirrels ought to be greatly restricted in 

 numbers. Dogs trained for squirrel-hunting may be em- 

 ployed ; they can detect and " point," thus solving the 

 difficulty of tracing the agile little creatures. Combined 

 action should be taken by the proprietors of affected districts 

 in order to get rid of the troublesome pest. 



Various MICE cause serious damage by gnawing the bark of 

 young broad-leaved trees, eating acorns and beech nuts, and 

 wasting seed-beds in nurseries. The wood or long-tailed 

 field-mouse (Mus sylvatlcus} kills plants by severing the roots 

 just below the surface of the ground, and by gnawing the 

 stems. 



The bank-vole (Arvlcola glareolus] and the common field- 

 vole {Arvicola agrestls} do mischief similar to that of mice, 

 and, in addition, burrow very extensively, cutting through 

 roots and uprooting plants. Even more than mice, voles are 



