312 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



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 poison a little distance from the opening. Then seal 

 up the hole with a lump of earth or sod, being careful that none 

 drops in on the poison, and put the dirt back as it was before. The 

 gopher will soon return to his labor, and will seldom fail to pick 

 up the bait. 



Another way to get into the burrow without disturbing the 

 mounds is to sharpen a broom stick and push it into the earth 

 about a foot back of the mound until it shows the runway by drop- 

 ping into it. Drop in the poison and cover the hole you have made 

 with dirt. 



It is often useless to put poison in holes left open by gophers 

 when at work, as they shove the poison out with the dirt, and it be- 

 comes lost. If the hole is opened and poison is placed therein it 

 should be closed up again, as the gopher, seeing the light and feeling 

 the air where it was not intended, goes to work to remedy that evil 

 by showing a load of dirt against the opening, thereby covering up 

 or throwing out the bait. 



For large scale work in poisoning gophers, this recipe is very 

 effective : 



Sweet potatoes, parsnips, or carrots 8 quarts 



Flour paste % pint 



Strychnine alkaloid, powdered *A ounce 



Saccharine 1/16 ounce 



Chop the vegetables, or cut them with a knife, into one-half 

 inch cubes. Make a thin paste of flour and water and boil for a 

 few minutes. Stir the strychnine and saccharine into one-half pint 

 of the cooked paste and pour it over the chopped vegetables, stirring 

 until each piece is coated. Two or three of these cubes are to be 

 dropped in each runway. The alkaloid form of strychnine should 

 be used in preference to the sulphate, as the former is but slightly 

 soluble in water and remains largely on the outside of the bait, leav- 

 ing the center sweet. The saccharine is used to disguise partially 

 the bitterness of the strychnine. 



Sometimes the same poisoned grain used for squirrels can be 

 successfully used for gophers by placing it in the runways as first 

 described. 



The Mole. The mole is an insect-eater and as such is bene- 

 ficial, but he destroys so many plants while mining for grubs and 

 worms, that a gardener can well dispense with his services. The 

 best way to do this is to watch for the rising soil and striking in 

 just behind the mole with a spade or shovel throw him out and 

 finish him. When he is .working in the lawn or where the ground 

 is too hard for this treatment, strike into the moving earth with a 

 hatchet. It generally reaches the animal, and we have killed more 

 moles in this way than in any other. 



