Alfalfa in Kansas. 159 



readily drowned. A peculiarity reported is that gophers do not usually 

 work in black gumbo land. (See pages 353 to 365.) 

 The following reports bear on the subject: 



Geary county: "I have had lots of grief getting dirt in the mower 

 sickle, horses stepping in the runway and so forth and have hired them 

 trapped at fifteen cents each." 



Jefferson county: "They make vexatious mounds. We poison and 

 trap." 



Marshall county: "Gophers are bad, as they make it so hard to mow. 

 We have tried trapping, but that is pretty slow. I think poison is better." 



Riley county: "Gophers throw up mounds and make it bad to mow. 

 Poison with strychnine in prunes, raisins, apples or sweet potatoes. 

 Patented preparations are not worth anything." 



Comanche county: "They have ruined some fields for me. We plowed 

 the fields because it was too big a job to kill them." 



Mitchell county: "Gophers took one field for me. I used potatoes and 

 prunes poisoned with strychnine to exterminate them." 



Doniphan county: "Trap and poison them. We fight all the time to 

 hold them in check." 



Jackson county: "I load raisins with strychnine and drop in runs. 

 Gophers are very troublesome if you don't." 



Marshall county: "They are bad unless you keep them in check by 

 poisoning." 



Mitchell county: "A great nuisance. Trap them and poison them." 



Nemaha county: "They have been very troublesome. I use strychnine, 

 placing a grain in a small potato and introducing it into their runs. Leave 

 the hole open." 



Pottawatomie county : "I have kept gophers out of 100 acres of alfalfa 

 with potatoes and strychnine." 



Kingman county: "Cats will catch them near the buildings. I pay the 

 boys ten cents apiece for trapping and see that they get their pay from 

 the county." 



Barber county: "My alfalfa is mostly on heavy ground,' with no 

 gophers. I had sixty acres a few years ago on light ground; they got it." 



The elimination of weeds and grasses is treated on pages 55 to 62, 

 and 332 to 338. 



Webworms. 



The extent of the damage by webworms and the method of fighting 

 them are clearly set forth in the following reports : 



Franklin county: "The webworm destroyed one crop by eating and 

 forming a web over the field. They disappeared in a short time." 



Sedgwick county: "We have never fought the webworms, as they 

 usually last only a week to ten days." 



Labette county: "When the web-forming caterpillar, which eats the top 

 of the growing stem as well as spins a web over it, appears, we cut at 

 once, no matter what the stage of growth. They seldom attack the sub- 

 sequent growth. They have either starved or completed their life cycle." 



Chase county: "Sometimes the webworm strikes a field. I think it 

 best to cut at once to give the next crop a chance." 



