THE MOLE QUESTION 117 



mole, which all before him had missed to wit, 

 his trap. 



This frightful engine of destruction is not yet 

 perfected, and perhaps the moles need not be in a 

 hurry to say their prayers. In the meantime, 

 while the farmers are waiting to be delivered from 

 their subterranean enemy, I cannot help thinking 

 that it is not much to the credit of the science of 

 agriculture, and the Royal Agricultural Society, 

 that some practical steps have not been taken 

 before now to ascertain whether or not the mole 

 is an injurious beast; or, to put it differently, 

 whether the direct loss he causes by throwing 

 up hills in meadows and grass-lands exceeds any 

 benefit that may result from his presence in drain- 

 ing and ventilating the soil and in clearing it of 

 grubs. 



With gardens and lawns we are not concerned; 

 moles are a nuisance when they come too near, 

 and if some one could devise a means to inflict 

 sudden death on every underground intruder into 

 such places it would be a great advantage. Ex- 

 periments in a small way could be made at a very 

 slight cost. For instance, take a meadow, like one 

 of those belonging to my friend, very much infested 

 with moles; divide it in two equal portions, one 

 half to be open to moles, the other half to be 

 strictly protected from them by means of a fence 

 of fine wire-netting sunk to a proper depth in 

 the soil. Then let the grass crops of the two 

 portions be compared as to weight and quality for 



