THE ILLINOIS FA.R]\£ER. 



71 



ins,') althougli a westeru .species, found 

 chiefly beyond tlic Mississippi river, is fre- 

 quently met with ia the ■western and 

 southern portions of this State, but not in 

 numbers sufficient to do any great injury to 

 farmers, in fact, in this and the adjoining 

 counties it is but seldom seen. This county 

 appears to be the southern limit of its 

 range in this State. 



This brings us to that too well known 

 group, the mouse family, {Muridae,') which 

 is well represented in this State. 



The littl© Jumping Mouse, {Juculus 

 hudsonius,') has the widest geographical 

 range of all our small native llodents, being 

 found from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It 

 is found throughout our State, though it is 

 by no means abundant, and although found 

 in the prairies, appears to prefer the timber. 



The Norway or Common Brown Hat, 

 (Mus decumames,) although not a native, 

 is nevertheless the most troublesome of all 

 the llodents. According to Pallas, it be- 

 longed originally to the wanner regions of 

 Central Asia; thence it crossed the Volga in 

 1737, peopled Russia, and subsebuently over- 

 spread the whole of Europe According to 

 Erxleben it reached England in 1730, 

 France in 1750, and North American in 

 177o. I am sorry to add that I can give 

 no new remedy or more effectual method by 

 which to exterminate this pest than those 

 already known. 



The Common Mouse, (3Ius Ilusadus,') is 

 another troublesome attendant upon man; a 

 house, barn or crib is scarcely finished be- 

 fore this watcliful gentleman has prepared 

 himself snug quarters therein. 



The White Footed or Deer 3Iouse, (^IIcs- 

 jyeromi/s Icucopus,) inhabits the timbered 

 districts; wliile the Prairie Mouse, {^Hes- 

 j)erom>/s Michiganensis,) of Aud. and Bach., 

 the {Mas hairdii) of Hay and Keunicott it 

 found only in the prairies. The injury 

 done by these species is probably not very 

 great, though their known habits would lead 

 us to conclude, that when abundant, they 

 would prove quite injurious, and at any rate 

 add something to tke difficultie* with which 

 the farmer has to contend. 



The Red Mouse, (^11. nuttalit,') is a rare 

 opeciea, found in the southern portion of 

 the State. Aud if I am not mistaken, the 

 first specimen of this species, found by Mr. 

 Keunicott, was in this county. I recollect 

 the time, as 1 was with him, and was amused 

 as well aa surprised at his rapid movements. 

 We had just turned over a log, whan in- 

 stantly I heard Mr. Keunicott give a 

 scream, and looking round saw him holding" 

 a bush in each hand at arms length, and to 

 my surprise each hand held a mouse, that 

 had escaped so suddenly from beneath the 

 log that I had not Been them, though look- 

 ing with all my eyes. 



The Meadow Mouse, (Arvicola rqyaria,') 

 spoken of by Mr. Kennicott, (in Pat. Off. 

 llep.) may yet prove to be a distinct species, 

 and if so will be entitled to another name 

 It is not abundant, and is confined to the 

 northern part of the State. 



The Prairie Meadow Mouse, (^A. austera,) 

 is said to be the most abundant in the northern ' 

 portion of the State of all the field and ! 

 meadow mice, and ia one of the farmer's j 

 enemies he would be glad to be rid of. i 



The Wood 3Ieadow Mouse, (J.. ^h"/2c- 

 torinn,') is another ppccies found in dift'crent 

 portions of the State, but is not abundant. 

 This species belongs to the timbered dis- 

 tricts, never being found on the prairies. 



The Muskrat,(^/7>f^;' ZibeOttkiis,) in quite 

 abundant along our water courses and 

 i around the lakes of the bottoms; but it can- 

 not be counted , as one of the farmer's 

 enemies. ■:.:■, ,, 



The Gray Rabbit, {Lrpus aijlvatlca,) is so 

 well known that 1 have but to suggest the 

 name m order to bring a description before 

 the reader. It is quite abundant in the 

 middle and southern portions of the State^" 

 thousands of dozens being killed every win- 

 ter. The extent of the injury done by this 

 species I am unable to state, 3'et it may be- 

 come a pest, especially to gardeners and 

 probably fruit growers. In this portion of 

 the State (south) it does not do much harm, 

 because of the number of dogs usually kept 

 on the farms. 



And now, Mr. Editor, allow me in the 

 close to state that it is desirable to have 

 specimens of all the Illinois Mammals in the 

 Museum of the Illinois Natural Historical 

 Society; aud all contributfons of this kind 

 will be properly acknowledged in the Re- 

 ports of the Society. They may be skinned, 

 the skull and feet to be left in theskin, after 

 carefully removing the brains and the flesh; 

 or the smaller kinds may be dropped in al- 

 cohol. All memoranda as to habits, distri- 

 bution, &c., will also be thankfully received. 

 Yourg, &c., C. TnoMAS. 



It is with no small degree of pleasure 

 that we present the readers of the Farmer 

 with the above, from the practical pen of 

 Mr. Thomas, and we hope it will call out 

 facts from our farmers in regard to the 

 Rodents, that infest, for good or evil, 

 the farmer's broad acres. 



The general impression is that most, 

 if not all oi those Rodents do damage 

 to the farmer, and it is time that the sub- 

 ject be investigated, so that those that 

 are really the farmer's friends should be 

 saved from an indiscriminate slauirhter. 



We have never met with the Little 

 Red Squirrel in the north part of the 

 State, but it is one of those Mammals 

 that follow the footsteps of civilization, 

 and will soon spread over the State. The 

 SpermojjJiilcs or Striped Prairie Squir- 

 rel, we have looked upon as a great 

 rogue in digging up corn, apple, osage 

 and other seeds, and as a nurseryman 

 we have heW him in nb high esteem. 



The Pouched Gopher, we believe, is 

 not known north of the Illinois and 

 Kankakee rivers and east of the Missis- 

 sippi, north of the mouth of the Illinois. 

 The only damage that we have discover- 

 ed, is his eating off the roots of young 

 trees. Last winter we had several 

 hundred thus destroyed in one of our 



belts of Silver Maples. They probably 

 live on insects and the roots of trees and 

 vegetables. 



The Woodchuck is just beginning to 

 spread over the north part of the State. 

 Clover is his favorite food; we think 

 him inoffensive. 



The Norway Rat, of all the Rodentia, 

 is the most villainous, and we can 

 scarely find a term of reproach sufl^ci- 

 ently strong to show tlie low estima- 

 tion in which ho is held. We have 

 thinned their ranks on our premises to 

 an endurable condition by the use of 

 rat terriers and by putting our buildings 

 sufficiently above ground to get at their 

 holes and hiding places. Ed. 



The Cullurc of Vines. . 



The time is now approaching when 

 melons of all kinds should be planted for 

 the main crop. Select a piece of good, 

 rich, new or sod land, more particularly 

 for watermelons. Skillraan's fine netted 

 melons do very well on older land, pro- 

 vided it is black, good and rich. A lit- 

 tle compost or well rotted manue tlirown 

 in or about the hill, wull often double or 

 treble the crop. 



On good land, watermelons should not 

 be planted at less than ten or twelve 

 feet asunder, each way between the rows. 

 The only kind that is fit to eat, is the 

 Mountain Sweet. We used to think 

 others were good before we knew how 

 good melons tasted. Last year we used 

 up all our seed of Mountain Sweets, and 

 got them pretty well killed by the 

 June frost. Having plenty of old seed, 

 which we once thought first rate, we 

 planted them. They produced well. 

 Large, fine looking melons — give them 

 to those who never tasted a Mountain 

 Sweet, and they would pronounce them 

 first rate. But just give those very per- 

 sons a Mountain Sweet first, then take 

 them into the common patch. They 

 would invariably say, " W^hy, what ails 

 your melons ? They are not better than 



pumpkins?" ;.;;;. 



It is just as cheap raising good as 

 poor melons. Then, by all, means, pro- 

 cure the best seed, give them a good dis- 

 tance a.part, tend well, and you will have 

 enough for yourself and family, besides 

 some to give to your less industrious 

 neighbors. Skillman's fine netted is, 

 amung the nutmeg or muskmelon fami- 

 ly, what the Mountain Sweet is among 

 the watermelons — king of all the other 

 sorts. 



Mark out the rows seven feet apart, 

 and plant five feet between the hills. 

 Then as soon as all danger from frosts 

 and bugs is over, thin to three stalks In 

 I each hill, don't leave more. Tend often 

 and well, Sufter not a weed to grow. 



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