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of this wild grass furnish a considerable portion of the food 

 of the mice, as can be seen by the great number of cut-off, and 

 partly eaten, stems and blades that are to be found about their 

 nests and along their runways, where the plant grows. 



The practice of burning over these "broom-sedge" fields in 

 the fall, as soon as the growth is dry enough to ignite, has been 

 followed in some localities. This practice is objectionable for 

 several reasons, but where such fields are breeding great num- 

 bers of meadow mice which threaten injury to near-by culti- 

 vated crops, it may be advisable to burn them in order to clean 

 out the mice. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF FIELD MICE. 



The Bulletin entitled "An Economic Study of Field Mice," 

 by David E. Lantz, which is mentioned on a preceding page 

 of this paper, gives a concise account of two species of these 

 animals that are found in West Virginia. The following excerpt 

 of that bulletin is presented as representing the best information 

 that has been published on the subject. 



"The present paper deals with the habits of the common field 

 mice of the United States. Small as these pests are, they inflict 

 enormous injury upon the crops of the country. The aggregate loss 

 to the farmers from this source averages not less than three million 

 dollars annually, and in some years is much greater. The major 

 portion of this loss is preventable and the object of this bulletin is 

 to acquaint farmers, orchardists, nurserymen, and others with the 

 most practicable preventive methods. 



"Field mice of the genus Microtus have stout bodies, blunt rounded 

 muzzles, small eyes, and short ears often completely concealed in 

 the fur. The tail is short and hairy; the soles of the feet are naked 

 or clothed with short hairs, and have five or six foot pads. The 

 incisors are broad and not grooved. 



"About 165 living species and subspecies of Microtus have been rec- 

 ognized (1904), of which about 78 are North American. The genus is of 

 wide distribution, covering practically the greater part of the northern 

 hemisphere outside the tropical zone. The range of a single species is 

 often remarkably great. Thus the typical form of the common meadow 

 mouse of the United States (M. pennsylvanicus) occurs over a large 



