THE FAILURE OF ORCHARDS, AND ITS REMEDY. 219 



has fallen down in the 

 nooks, mice want no 

 better refuge. Hence, 

 let the fence be lifted 

 with a lever, and a large 

 stone or block of wood 

 placed beneath each 

 corner; and let the 

 dead grass be raked 

 into heaps for manure. 

 Mice frequently burrow 

 among the stones of un- 

 der -drains, and there 

 build their nests and 

 propagate. In such in- 

 stances, let old nail- 

 kegs, fish-kegs, old but- 

 ter-firkins, and barrels 

 be sunk in the ground, 

 so that the top will be 

 even with the surface 

 of the ground. A large 

 number of mice will be 

 trapped in such recep- 

 tacles, as they will jump 

 in and can not climb 

 out. Boxes two feet 

 deep may also be set in 

 the ground as traps for 

 mice. Cats will take 

 them from such traps, 

 or they can be speared 

 with a fork. It is an ex- 

 cellent practice to sink 

 several barrels in differ- 

 ent parts of an orchard. 

 Let two or three holes, 

 one and a half inches 

 in diameter, be bored 

 through the staves about 

 eight inches from the 

 upper end ; then let the 

 barrel be sunk in the 

 ground, so that the holes 

 will be even with the 

 surface. The mice will 



be attracted to the barrels in the night and enter the holes. In addition to all the 

 foregoing suggestions, we have found it an excellent practice to set a few sheaves 

 of corn-stalks in round shocks at different parts of the orchard, beneath which a 

 few nubbins of corn were placed. The tops of the stalks were bound so tightly that 

 the entire shock could be lifted by one man from the ground. In cold weather the 

 nocturnal marauders would leave their haunts and collect beneath the shocks of 

 stalks. Every day we would lift the stalks and let the cat take the victims. There 

 are some other ways of exterminating meadow mice ; but none are more conven- 

 ient and effectual than those alluded to. The war with mice must be waged unre- 

 mittingly during the entire year. Meadow mice often do great damage in under- 



