KEBUl AKV 8, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



775 



EXTERMINATING MOLES. 



Kegarding moles in carnations, will say 

 tliiit wc have been troubled with them 

 in our Joost benches for the past few 

 v.irs. The only way we caught them 

 v\;!S by setting little 5 cent or 10 cent 

 spring ijiouse traps with ham rind as 

 tiiit. Place them near the holes, fas- 

 l.ned with wire securely, or they will 

 ^iiry the traps away, as they certainly 

 ,,ie tough little things. Last year we 

 j,;iil one house of Joost on wooden 

 btuches, and one on the everlasting tile 

 bench; those on the wood benches were 

 >,mply undermined, while those on the 

 lile were not bothered at all. It seems 

 to me they like a bench with holes in 

 the bottom to travel through, as we 

 (ound piles of soil a foot high under the 

 .vooden benches and none under the tile. 



H. B. 



A year ago I was troubled with moles 

 in the same way as G. S. The cats would 

 not touch them, so I took a piece of 

 board, put on it a small pile of wheat 

 flour and then took a common tin mouse 

 trap and placed over it so they had to 

 run their heada through the holes the 

 same as if it was baited for mice. The 

 first night I caught two in the same trap 

 and that happened to be all there was 

 this winter. If G. S. will try this remedy 

 I think he will find it will work all right. 



E. B. 



1 was bothered Avith moles in the same 

 way as G. S. They cleaned the pinks 

 all out. I tried about everything he did, 

 and the last thing I did was to soak oats 

 in strong Paris green water and spread 

 them around among the pinks. That 

 finished the moles. I could pick them up 

 anywhere. R. S. H. 



In regard to the inquiry of G. S. for 

 a remedy for moles, some years ago I 

 was in the same fix. After trying a 

 number of different poison and trap 

 baits I had the good luck to leave in 

 the carnation house one night a piece 

 of Ivory soap and found it next morn- 

 ing eaten all around the edges. I baited 

 two common mouse traps and next morn- 

 ing I found five caught. Ivory soap has 

 done the job for me, since it has never 

 failed to entice them to get their necks 

 broken. If G. S. tries it I hope he will 

 report his success in the Review. 



W. P. 



In the Review of February 1 G. S. 

 wants to know what will kill the moles 

 which are eating his carnation blooms. 

 I never knew of moles eating carnations, 

 but if he means the large, short-tailed 

 field mouse, tell him to try soaking a 

 handful of corn in water until soft. 

 Then take a knife and make a small in- 

 <ision in the eye of each grain and 

 I'orce a small portion of strychnine into 

 'he grain with the point of the knife, 

 ]>ressing the skin into place again. We 

 •'re frequently troubled with this pest 

 ''>ith carnations and tomatoes, but one or 

 'wo feedings with the corn generally rids 

 he place. Arsenic does not seem to do 

 he work. F. T. Way. 



In reply to the note of G. S. in the 



■ ssue of the Review for February 1, I 

 vould say that I have experienced the 



J3®6 trouble with moles. I have used 



■ U kinds of remedies, and find the only 

 •hing I can get the moles to touch is 



rsenie mixed with dry cornmeal, about 



Carnation Helen M. Gould. 



(Pink with darker markings, a sport from Enchantress.) 



a teaspoonful of arsenic to a pint of 

 meal, of which they will eat freely. 



J. W. S. 



regularly there is likely to be much dam- 

 age done before the crop of caterpillars 

 is destroyed. W. H. T. 



MINERS' STRIKE IMMINENT. 



A strike of 300,000 coal miners, in- 

 volving every colliery in the anthracite 

 and bituminous coal fields in the coun- 

 try, seems inevitable on April 1. The 

 operators at a meeting at Indianapolis 

 February 1 definitely and finally rejected 

 the miners' demands for an increase in 

 wages. The United Mineworkers im- 

 mediately voted to raise a defense fund 

 of $6,500,000 by the assessment of $1 a 

 week until April on every miner belong- 

 ing to the union. The United Mine- 

 workers already have in their treasuries 

 $6,500,000. So, by April 1, the miners 

 will have a total strike fund of $13,000,- 

 000. Over 600,000 miners in both an- 

 thracite and bituminous fields are de- 

 clared as sure to strike on that dav. 



WORMS ON SMILAX. 



Is there any remedy for a worm, re- 

 sembling the cut worm, that climbs the 

 vines and trims the tender foliage off, 

 mostly at night or on cloudy days? Have 

 caught about 400 in a bed of 1.200 

 plants in about two weeks. Is there any 

 other remedy than picking them off. 

 S. R. 



The caterpillar in question is a very 

 destructive one in a smilax bed, for it 

 has a most voracious appetite. Spraying 

 with a weak solution of Paris green 

 would probably put a stop to the mis- 

 chief, but if too much Paris green is 

 used the leaves of the smilax are likely 

 to be scorched. Hand-picking is the 

 safest method, but does occupy a great 

 deal of time, and unless this can be dore 



RATS IN GREENHOUSE. 



I am so tormented with rats in my 

 greenhouse that 1 would ask you if you 

 know of any way to get rid of the pests. 

 I have used six bottles of strychnine 

 containing four grains each, some of it 

 in poisoning lard and spreading the same 

 on bread; 1 used it with meat, with corn 

 the same way as we used to poison 

 gophers but they seem to he as bad as 

 ever. They eat the corn, sometimes 

 clean, but after they have had a dose 

 they won 't touch it for some time ; they 

 eat the bread and lard inside of an hour, 

 but it doesn 't seem to do any good. The 

 last bottle I used the druggist told me to^ 

 put the four grains to one and one-h^li 

 pints of water and put enough corn to 

 absorb all of it; but they only ate a 

 little of it. I used to put the four grains 

 in nearly two quarts of water ; ''then they 

 ate the corn but 1 don't think it killed 

 them. They are carrying away my 

 carnation cuttings and are also in the 

 carnation beds, cutting down the new 

 shoots and even flowers and buds and pile 

 them up in some convenient corner where 

 they eat them up. L. A. G. 



Rats are a serious pest in a greenhouse 

 and frequently do great damage in a 

 very short time, for they seem to delight 

 in chewing off the tender shoots of many 

 plants in addition to those they actually 

 eat. 



The poison used in this case must sure- 

 ly De of poor quality, or else the ani- 

 mals must be very numerous, for that 

 quantity of strychnine ought to dispose 

 of a great many rats. Try a common 



