114 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 



size of the gopher. Either trap should be inserted nearly 

 its full length into the hole, pressed down firmly, and a 

 little dirt piled at the outer end to prevent its being easily 

 pushed out. After the trap is set it is well to cover the 

 opening with some grass or weeds. Sometimes the holes 

 require a little enlarging, but care should be taken to 

 make the fit as close as possible, that the body of the 

 gopher may be kept near the center, and thus more ex- 

 posed to the prongs of the trap. 



In the fourth place, the trapper should be supplied 

 with a small spade and a litle gouge-shaped implement 

 for trimming the hole. 



Finally, the trapper should be supplied with traps as 

 numerous as the extent of the pest demands. He should 

 not be discouraged by lack of success at first. Persever- 

 ance is as essential in this work as in any other, and will 

 generally win. We have in mind the successful capture 

 of a big gopher after trapping for him a week, changing 

 the trap two or three times a day ; he had then destroyed 

 about fifty hills of corn. How much damage he and his 

 descendants might have done had not his career of devas- 

 tation been interrupted, can only be estimated by such 

 multiples as attach to the propagation of that particular 

 species. 



Poisoning is an easier method of destroying gophers, 

 and it is very satisfactory if faithfully done. The poison 

 is strychnine in crystal form, which can be pulverized in 

 the small bottle in which it is bought by using the head 

 of a nail. Take out a very small amount on the tip of 

 a knife-blade and insert it into raisins, or pieces of carrot, 

 potato, alfalfa stems, or almost any succulent vegetable 

 substance which is handy at the time. Find where the 

 gopher has been at work last, and remove the loose earth 

 from the surface, to find where it has come from; then 

 dig down to find the main runway, generally from six 

 to twelve inches. The runway being found, clean out 

 any dirt that may have dropped into it, and place the 



