MISCHIEF OF MEADOW-MOUSE 65 



pointed out. The protection and encourage- 

 ment of these valuable allies of the farmer can 

 not be too strongly advocated. 



Trapping, systematically continued, is of 

 great service; and advice upon it is given at 

 the end of this book, as also for poisoning these 

 small pests. 



Food of wild mice. Returning now to a 

 further consideration of the mice in the normal 

 numbers which are always with us, an under- 

 standing of their feeding is most important as 

 a preliminary to repressive measures. 



In summer the principal food is green vege- 

 tation and unripe seeds of grain and grasses. 

 As the season advances, ripe grain and seeds 

 take the place of the immature; and in winter 

 bulbous and other roots are in part substituted 

 for stems and leaves. It is mainly in winter 

 that apple orchards and young forest trees suf- 

 fer, for meadow-mice invade cleanly cultivated 

 fields only under shelter of snow. Unlike the 

 foreign voles, our American species do not, as 

 a rule, lay up winter-stores in any considerable 

 quantities, as do some other American mice 

 the deer-mice, for instance. Instead, our mead- 



