AGRICl'LTrRAIi AFPROIMUATIO.V lilLI^ lin!4. .'i27 



(logs. In llu' urea in wliicli tin* i)ruin<' *it»j;s wrn* fciiml out thorc 

 was tlio jjrowth of tlu* fornjjt' (iiulicutin^ <»n photo^^ruplil. ami Iuti* on 

 thooutsiiU*. wluMC tlu' prairie <Iosj:^, l>ut no rattle, were permitted, that 

 was the i;ro\vtl» |in<li(atin«;l. That is a prjuf ical illustruti«»n <»f what 

 these animals do. 



Mr. Bi:cHANAN. There is absolutely no (|uestion hut that pruirie 

 dof^s. when thoy have a .settlement or town they call them prairie- 

 do«? towns are al)sohitely destructive of u^ricultural vi'j^etatioii, and 

 they render the land practicallv useless. 1 have seer) vast territory 

 just al)andoned on ac<'ount oi prairie do<js. There is no (piestion 

 about that. 



Doctor Xki.son. The object of this rodent work is to control, ami 

 eventually eliminat(>. those {)ests. and it is a lonj; job, because tliey 

 cover such a trenu'udous area. It is a job that simply has to be 

 continued, and while it looks like a Ion"; job there is one encoura<;ing 

 feature, however. Vou have tiiinj^s like in.secl pests which are so 

 numerous and which are soread over such an area that their extermi- 

 nation becomes a i)ractical impossibility. All that can be done is to 

 try to hold them (lown in their destnictivene.ss. The prairie <lo<; can 

 actually be eliminated and done w ith forever. The only thin«; is, it 

 requires a long, coiitinued, patient, organized campaign. 



CAMPAIGN FOR CONTROL OK HOISE RATH. 



House rats: We are also having a lar«:e campaign for the control 

 of house rats all t)ver the country, and tliere is a very great interest 

 in that work. At the present time there is a campaign going on in 

 Portland, Oreg., under one of our men, which is getting very good 

 results. They not only destroy the rats but they establish methods 

 of rat-proofing and start rat-proofing campaigns and cleaning up of 

 trash piles antl eliminating the [)laces where these pests live. In 

 that way they inaugurate a permanent riddance. 



In Texas in one county last year — Denton — there was a campaign 

 against the rats led by one of our men. and by actual count 253.000 

 rats were killed. There is a population there of about 36.000 people, 

 and evidently the rat population was very much more numerous 

 than that of the people. 



The rats are exceedingly destructive of crops and food of various 

 descriptions as well as goods of every kind, mid ai-^n ourv diseases. 

 and are a menace from that point of view. 



I might state, in connection with the rat work, that during the 

 last year we had 325 requests for information and assistance from 

 42 States in regard to rat work and 76 reouests to help in campaigns in 

 26 different States for the suppression oi the rat nuisance. 



Fi :k-kakmin<: INVE8TK;ATIo\« 



We are also carrying on investigations into fur farming, and have 

 an experimental fur farm in New York State. The fur-farming 

 business has increased aiul become very prolitable, and there are 

 now over 500 silver fox farms in the United States, with about 

 12.000 foxes, and an investment of about .'JS,000,0OO. There are 

 fur farms in 25 vStates; there are also about 200 or more fur farms in 

 Alaska. 



