INJURIES TO WOODLANDS BY ANIMALS. 173 



passage, bad come tblther in quest of larvas and flies. We raay justly accuse the de- 

 partments of the south with abusive hunting of the ins^ectivorons birds ; but what 

 shall we say of the organized massacres of the eastern departments,? Let us listen to 

 the eloquent and pathetic statement of a writer who, with an infinite amount of feel- 

 iu;j and spirit, has made himself the advocate of these unfortunate victims. 



"I have seen in my childhood, in Lorraine," says Toussenel, " all the trees by the 

 roodside, the borders of the woods, and the feeding and watering places of the fores'-, set 

 with poles by scores, so thickly that it was scarcely possible for the birds that might 

 pass that wicked region to alight without falling into an ambush. * * » The lauded 

 property of France is wholly imperiled by the shameful ravages of devouring insects, 

 which eat up one crop after another, and will finish by making themselves masters of 

 the toil unless the administration takes effectual measures to prevent it." 



The subject of insect ravages, as well upon field-crops as upon fruits and 

 trees, has received much attention in our own country since the earliest 

 period of agricultural and horticultural societies, and in several of the 

 states commissions specially appointed have made elaborate reports 

 upon it. Our limits will only allow a general reference to these sources 

 of information, and to the discussions and essays published by these 

 and other societies, many of which relate to the protection needed to 

 insectiverous birds, and to measures that tend most to the increase of 

 the latter. There can be little doubt but that with stringent game-laws, 

 well enforced, and adequate opportunities to birds for nesting in groves 

 and hedges, ihis balance of animal life, as it affects our agricultural 

 interests, may be easily and permanently maintained, and that immense 

 losses now annually suffered from insects may be saved. 



Immense damages are done to wharves and other wooden structures 

 by the ship-worm. This belongs to the class of molluscs, or shell-fish, 

 and the remedies are chiefly found in the chemical i)reparatiou of the 

 timbers, such as injection of creosote oil, &c. The subject of timber- 

 preservation, although intimately associated with that of forestry, does 

 not form a part of the present report. 



INJURIES TO WOODLANDS 'FEOM ANIMALS. 



We have already noticed (page 105) the injuries that maybe done by 

 domestic animals, and the necessity of their exclusion where the under- 

 growth is an object for protection. Of wild animals, the rodents com- 

 mit by far the greatest damage, especially rabbits, mice, and gophers, 

 the first two by gnawing the bark, and the latter by enting off the roots. 



As a protection against rabbits, several thicknesses of tarred paper, 

 or cornstalks, wrapped around the tree and tied with twine, has proved 

 effectual. Smearing with wagon-grease, tar, blood, and lime have been 

 tried. There is no remedy completely effectual short of the destruction 

 of the animals.^ 



The FocKET Gopher {Oeomys bursarius^ Shaw) is orre of the most 

 troublesomepestsof the tree-planter in the prairieregions of Iowa, Kansas, 

 and Nebraska. It is particularly partial to the rjoots of young trees, and 

 a single animal has been known to follow a line of newly-set Osage 

 hedge, destroying the roots for many rods. It derives its common name 

 from a fold of the skin on each side of the mouth which, in burrowing, 

 it tills with earth, and then coming to the surface it empties this load 



' M. Courcier has submitted a letter to the Central Society of Horticulture, in France, 

 giving a cheap method of protecting plantations against rabbits. It consists in sur- 

 rounding them with a cord dipped in fish-oil, and supported 6 or 8 inches above the 

 jjround l)y stakes, which are cleft at the top so as to receive and hold the cord. The 

 oflor of the oil is said to be offensive to these animals. The cord should be dipped 

 from time to time in the oil as its odor is lost by exposure to the air. Should this be 

 ftiuHd tfficacions, we have an easy method for protecting nurseries. It is said that 

 rabbits will sometimes abandon a locality where this odor is introduced by tauMeries 

 and the like. 



