286 



ARID AGRICULTURE. 



NOT DIFFI- 

 CULT TO 

 KEEP THE 

 RASCALS 

 DOWN 



GIVE THE 

 BOY A GUN 



farms or in new countries, the rodent problem 

 sometimes calls for intelligent and prompt ac- 

 tion. There are places and times where prairie- 

 dogs, prairie-squirrels, kangaroo rats and rab- 

 bits will take care of newly-planted grain crops 

 so well that there is nothing left to sack up for 

 the ravages of mice. Chipmunks and rats seem 

 to enjoy digging up newly planted seeds, as well 

 as the old-fashioned crow enjoyed pulling corn. 



Neither worry nor discouragement need be 

 caused by rodents. New land can be cleared of 

 them sometimes by ordinary farm' operations, 

 and at others by the expenditure of a few cents, 

 or at most a few dollars per acre. Irrigation 

 is unpleasant to dry-climate animals that burrow 

 in the soil, and often the irrigating of the land 

 drives out or destroys all the undesirable inhab- 

 itants. 



It is good for every small boy nine years of 

 age or older, to learn two things in addition to 

 his ordinary education. He should learn to 

 shoot and he should learn not to shoot. It is a 

 part of a liberal education to learn to use a gun, 

 especially a rifle. It teaches accuru,cy, deliber- 

 ateness, nerve and muscle control, ^ution, ac- 

 tivity, self-reliance, restraint, and other traits. 

 It gives the boy the liveliest interest in out-door 

 life and instills red and healthy blood into his 

 veins. 



