118 THE PESTS OF CULTIVATED PLANTS 



INJURY BY PREDACEOUS ANIMALS. 



Predaceous animals include all rodents, such as mice, 

 rabbits, woodchucks, and moles. The loss due to this class 

 of pests is confined principally to the younger trees and to 

 bushes, yet there are many herbaceous plants in the garden 

 like the cabbage, lettuce, etc., which are often attacked and 

 severely injured. The loss in the aggregate due to rodents 

 is considerable, when all plants are included. The amount 

 of injury would be far less than it is if the rubbish and the 

 grasses which serve as places of concealment were destroyed. 

 In the average home orchard and in the garden the danger 

 of rodent injury is greater than in a commercial plantation, 

 because the possible means of protection for the plants are 

 more generally disregarded. 



Control Measures fcr Predaceous Animals. — The injury done 

 to plants by predaceous animals is due to the eating of the 

 plant tissue by certain destructive rodents, such as mice, 

 rabbits, or woodchucks. The control for such injury must 

 of necessity be one of prevention rather than one of destruc- 

 tion. The control of the predaceous animals is accomplished 

 by protecting the plant in such a way as to keep the animals 

 away from the plants. 



There are various ways and means which are used for the 

 protection of our plants. The banking or mounding of soil 

 about the trunk of the trees is often used. The mounding 

 is not so very effective in itself, but when used in conjunction 

 with other mechanical devices aids materially in the protec- 

 tion of trees. Mice in particular rarely ever injure trees, 

 unless grass, manure or trash is found near their bases. For 

 mounding to be effective the grass must first be cleared away 

 from the base of the tree, and the soil thoroughly firmed 

 about the base of the trunk. A covering of cinders well 

 pressed into the soil should cap each mound. The mound 

 should be from twelve to fifteen inches in diameter at the 

 base and from five to six inches in height. The mound 

 should be allowed to remain throughout the year, but it 

 must be repaired from time to time to insure its efficiency. 



The most complete and the most ideal plant protector 



