METHODS OF CIRCUMVENTING VERMIN 143 



ciently at any one point. And plagues of mice hiave long 

 been Itnown in the older countries. 



The two points to which I wish to call attention are 

 the fouling of grain feeds for pigeons, by the excreta of 

 mice, making the food actually poisonous, and the fact 



Alfalfa Field Ruined by Field Mice (Department of Agriculture Year Book) 



that scourges of field mice, counted " among the oldest 

 and most disastrous known in history," destroy vegeta- 

 tion almost completely. " Pasturage, hay, alfalfa, clover, 

 grain, — whether growing or stacked, — vineyards, shrub- 

 bery, and even forest trees have been destroyed." 

 This hits the poultryman at a vital point, especially 

 in the alfalfa country. During 1908, according to the 

 United States government Report, a species of mice 



