THE WEED problem: INSECTS, ETC. S3 



in a very short time completely mar an other- 

 wise handsome sward. Not only do they 

 make tunnels, the tops of which are likely to 

 fall in with a very slight pressure, but in the 

 course of their travellings they will, at frequent 

 intervals, throw up hills of soil, giving the 

 surface of the law^n an irregular, hummocky 

 contour. 



Moles are not seriously troublesome on 

 well rolled lawns. They will always choose 

 a line of least resistance, and a lawn which 

 is kept well rolled presents an entirely too 

 compact mass for Mr. Mole's comfort in 

 travel. If moles are running through a 

 lawn they should be fought by means of mole 

 traps, which are plunged into the runs and 

 usually catch the animals in the night time. 

 Wherever their presence is detected the 

 course of the tunnel should be followed out, 

 and the earth well tramped down. Poisoned 

 bait has sometimes been used with more or 

 less reported success but from the fact that 

 the mole is essentially a carnivorous animal, 

 it is not exactly plain why it should be easily 

 trapped by poisoned grain seeds. The animal 

 does certainly gnaw the roots of plants, but 

 it does this chiefly because they happen to 



