148 WILD NATURE IN STKATHEARN. 



rather destroy the -roots of the plants by raising 

 up the soil, which dries so quickly that the 

 plants wither and die. The Mole lives princi- 

 pally on worms, but, according to Darwin, the 

 earthworm is beneficial to agriculture. No ; I 

 am afraid the good the Mole does to the farmer 

 is not seen. His unsightly heaps are. You 

 never find Moles in wet, undrained land, but 

 where it is " fat " and full of worms. He is 

 partial to land newly " worked," and to fields 

 newly sown with grain, where he makes his 

 "runs" freely in the loose, freshly-stirred earth, 

 thereby, for reasons already stated, doing con- 

 siderable damage. Talking to a farmer, and 

 trying to defend the Mole, I said there was 

 no doubt every animal served a useful purpose, 

 although, perhaps, we could not see it. He 

 promptly asked in his practical way "What 

 good purpose does the Mole serve by running 

 up my ' neep ' drills, leaving the earth ' boss ' 

 below the seed, and making me saw ower again ? 

 Tell me that." 



