248 



SM.VLL AXIMAI-S AND INSECTS. 



[Chap. II. 



sticTiON xiii.-misci:llaxeous-wild and tame andials of the 



FAHM-DOJIESTIC FISH-BREEDING, ETC. 





.-rni^T^T^olcs— Vrc l.:ive for four years (1859-1S62) occu- 

 y^' pied our little farm in AVestchester County — 

 one of tlic many sadly-ahuseil pieces of land, 

 sonic of that in mowiuij, not jilanfed for thirty 

 I' 215>®^jll(^''fli3f 8 ^\^ years or more — and in this hind we found the moles 

 d^^jj^^^^'yi^ as thick as v.-e ever .saw them anywhere in our life, 

 ' - ''"^^ > ajid therefore have a light to speak of them from expe- 



rience. In some respects we have suffered severely by 

 them. Tlicy have killed many choice tliinijs that we 

 have phmted, including several valuable grapevines ; l)nt 



3!^!^ C^'^i'V.i^^? ^^^ ^'"^ ^*''' -^^^ willing to destroy the moles. We do not 

 V \ feOaL'i C^) look \ipon them as pests, altliougli they have pestered ns. 

 They undermine the jdants, but do not eat them "What 

 fori It is not for sport, nor merely accidental in boring 

 their subterranean galleries. It is in pursuit of food. And as that food consists 

 of insects noxious to the farmer, this paragraph upon moles comes in course 

 very well after the section devoted to insects. In fact, we believe that tlie 

 mole is one of man's best friends, and that it never occupies land that is not 

 already so preoccupied with destructive M'orms as to render it unfit for culti- 

 vation. So impressed with this belief are some European people — all 

 Prussia, we believe — that they have enacted laws to prohibit the killing of 

 moles. As with the crow, opinions vary in this country whether the mole is 

 beneticial or injurious to farmers. For our own part, we must say that M'e 

 never see an account of a "new mole-trap'' without wishing the inventor 

 might get his own fingers caught in it. It is a great pity that farmers can 

 not learn that moles are one of the good things that Providence has bestowed 

 upon them — that they do not destroy seeds and plants, but the insects that 

 are great pests to the farm and garden. In this opinion we shall continue 

 until better informed upon this question. In the mean time we give some 

 opinions of others. The following is the sketch of a rejjort of a conversation 

 at the New York Farmers' Club about moles : 



SoLox HoniNSON read a letter upon the subject of moles, which elicited a 

 lengthy discussion. The following portion of the letter we print : 



"This animal, as you probably know, lias a very small apology for eyes, 

 which can not be discovered till the skin is removed, and it can not be ascer- 

 tained that they are of any practical use. His sense of hearing and of smell 

 is very acute, and he is enabled to elude observation, and to avoid anything 

 unusual that may be jdaced in his track. No device, however, with which 

 I am acquainted will force him to abandon a well-cultivated track, abound- 

 ing with earth-worms, which are his chief attraction. He will pass from hill 



