AGRICULTURE. 211 



TVe have not yet had thne to produce many ornamental 

 gardens ; but I think the tnne is not far distant when no place 

 in the world wiU, within so small a district, have so many fine 

 gardens as the valleys round San Francisco Bay. 



§ 155. Pests of the Farmer. — Certain "pests" of the farmer 

 must be mentioned here, among which are the spermophile, 

 gopher, grasshopper, locust, graj^e-bug, orange-bug, army- 

 worm, Canada thistle, mullen, dock, fern, and so forth. Of 

 the spermophiles and their habit« I have spoken in the chapter 

 on the zoology of the state. The amount of mischief which 

 they do is very great. The most effective means of driving 

 them ofl" are poisons, chiefly strychnine and phosphorus. About 

 a drachm of strychnine is dissolved in a quart of whiskey, and 

 then the solution is poured over dry wheat in such quantity, 

 that the surface of the liquid is just on a level with the top of 

 the grain. In the course of twelve hours the wheat absorbs 

 all the liquor, and a few grains may then be thrown in front 

 of every squirrel-hole. When phosphorus is to be used, the 

 wheat is soaked in boiling water until it is soft, when the wa- 

 ter is drawn off, and the wheat in a pan is put in or over boil- 

 ing water to keep it near the boiling heat. A stick of phos- 

 phorus three inches long is put into the hot wheat, melts in ten 

 minutes, and the wheat is stirred about well, so that the melted 

 l)hosphorus will touch every grain. The wheat is then poured 

 upon some bran in which it is rolled so that every kernel may 

 be covered, and the grain is ready for its purposes of destruc- 

 tion. A couple of kernels will kill a scpiirrel; and if a cat eats 

 tlie squirrel, it will kill him ; and if a raven picks out the eyes 

 of the cat, he will die too : and such a progressive destruction 

 has been observed more than once in California. 



The gopher is more readily caught with traps than the sper- 

 mophile. In the chapter on zoology I have described the 

 trench used for keeping gophers out of orchards and gardens, 

 and for catching them. Several traps are in common use, but 

 it is not easy to describe them ; so I will not attempt it. 



The grasshoppers are the greatest pests of the farmer in 



