10 



hour, and then the rest of the water is added. If salt is added 

 the wash will stick better. 



Various methods of trapping have proved satisfactory. A trap 

 made of a half barrel sunk into the ground with a balanced swing- 

 ing lid slightly smaller than the top of the barrel on which bait 

 has been placed is quite satisfactory. When the rabbit steps on 

 the lid, it tips and allows the rabbit to drop into the barrel. An- 

 other ingenious trap is made of a small, rectangular box with a 

 door in one end held open by a trigger. The rabbit readily enters 

 the box and, in moving around, releases the trigger and closes the 

 door. The objectionable feature about this trap is that but one 

 rabbit can be caught at a time. 



One of the most effective methods of protection against injury 

 by rabbits is clean cultivation. If food is available elsewhere, 

 rabbits seldom frequent places where they cannot find cover. In 

 one plantation observed for three years, in which plantation the 

 trees were given clean cultivation, and in which there was not a 

 weed or vegetation of any character to afford cover, not a single 

 tree was injured by the rabbits. In another plantation not half a 

 mile from the one mentioned above, in which there was abundance 

 of cover, the rabbits were numerous. After four years' work in 

 attempting to ge.t a stand of trees, the plantation was abandoned 

 because of the injury done by the rabbits; at the end of the four 

 years' trial, not over fifteen per cent, of the trees showed more 

 than a one-year old stem. The conditions in the two plantations 

 were very similar except for the amount of cover for the rabbits. 

 The best method of protecting plantations against rabbits will 

 depend entirely on local conditions, including the area of the plan- 

 tation and the amount of injury that rabbits will probably do. 

 However, it is unsafe to set out a plantation of catalpas without 

 preparing to protect them, in some way, against rabbits. 



CUTTING BACK. 



Some catalpa growers practice and advise cutting the trees back 

 to stumps level with the ground two years after the trees are set 

 out. This is to secure a perfectly straight growth to the height to 

 which the sprout will grow the first season after it is cut back. 

 ^When cut back in this way, the stumps sprout freely, and, if they 

 are properly cared for, trees of very satisfactory growth and form 

 can be developed. However, cutting back necessitates a great 

 deal of work that farmers seldom have time to do, and any advan- 

 tage that may be gained hardly. pays for the extra cost of such 

 treatment. 



